Like many Americans, I fall into the “mixed breed” category. Half of my roots dwell beneath several villages in Mexico; the other half are buried in the Kansas prairies. Strong, self-sacrificing women form the base of both sides of my family tree. Take my mother’s father’s mother Ramona, for example. Back in the 1920s, the only work men could find in Hidalgo, Mexico, was down in the coalmines. When her husband was killed by a runaway cart down in the mines, great-grandma Ramona swore that none of her sons would ever have to take such risks to put tortillas on the table.
So, late one night, Ramona gathered all five of her children, including my five-year-old grandpa, and headed for the Mexico/Texas border. It cost five pesos to cross the bridge, but Ramona talked someone into rowing her family across the river by candlelight for only fifty centavos per person. Once across, she managed to find food and shelter for her family in a country where she didn’t know anyone and did not speak the language. Rather than endanger their lives working in the mines in Mexico, Ramona’s children grew up and earned their living by opening barber shops and restaurants in the United States.
My other maternal great-grandmother, Carmen, descended from the villagers of Cruillas, Mexico, who were relocated to a ranch in South Texas in the 1850s by a man named Captain King. Legend has it, King convinced 120 men, women, and children to dig up their ancestors’ graves, round up their donkeys and chickens, and follow him to Texas to a stretch of cacti and mesquite (land) known as “The Wild Horse Desert.” This soon became the largest modern ranch in the world with 75,000 herds of cattle and nearly one million acres of land—that’s nearly the area of Rhode Island! The King Ranch also was known as the birthplace of the American cowboy. Many of my great-uncles were just that—vaqueros (Spanish for cowboy) who broke horses, roped cattle and lived on the open range. Although she gradually became totally blind, great-grandma Carmen cooked, cleaned and cared for all twelve of her children.
