Another day
I sit here in the local cantina waiting.. for something. Dusty Southwest town you can imagine. Hot and dry, even on a spring day and nothing much of interest except a historical marker and some notes on the back of the menu.
“Gonzales Springs, settled in 1697 by Don Gonzales Gonzales Jr. recipient of a grant of land from the Viceroy of New Spain. He brought with him a number of Friars to found the mission.”
Not much is known about his early life. Born Gonzales Hernado Huevos Rancheros Jeronimo Juan Garcia Gonzales in 1657(?), the third son of a Bishop of a minor city in Andalusia. His mother was an unknown drifter, his father died at his birth. He began preparing for the priesthood, but determined to make his fortune in the New World, he took working passage on a ship to Veracruz in 1669.
In Mexico he made a name for himself as a soldier and explorer and was granted a large tract of land on the condition that he support a mission to convert the natives. He settled near these springs, the only reliable source of water in the vicinity.
The ranch was a success, in a minor way. The lack of water and forage meant few cattle could survive. The mission immediately began converting the native Indians, who resisted the change in lifestyle and the suppression of their traditional beliefs. Most died rather than convert, and those who did take up agriculture quickly starved because of the lack of rain for crops.
In 1708 a new Superior arrived and almost immediately the number of conversions reported to the Church rose significantly, in fact the mission was awarded a Papal Gold Star for efficiency in 1710 and each year thereafter until 1716 when it was realized that, with almost 800 converts in the past 7 years the mission had not requested any more staff and had not mentioned building a larger chapel.
In 1718 an emissary from Rome visited and found that the new Superior had instituted a new method of conversion. Since it was always a fight to convert the locals he had worked out a system in which they were first killed, then baptized and given last rites all at once. The slight shift in sequence really made no difference to the victims, and was much easier for the mission staff.
In 1720 the mission was awarded a Papal Gold Jewel-Encrusted Cross for Creativity and Innovation.
After the area became part of the United States in the mid-1840s the mission fell into disrepair and the lands of the rancho were appropriated by new settlers. The abandoned mission gained some infamy as a hideout for outlaws, notable Pancho Villa during his raids into the U.S. The town itself became a hangout and supply center for prospectors and smugglers until access was improved by the arrival of the Interstate Highway in the 1980s.
The last shot at prosperity came in the early 1990s when Walter Hill was scouting locations for his remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo”. The film, “Last Man Standing”, is set in a dusty Texas border town during Prohibition. The town is nearly deserted and falling into disrepair because two bootlegger gangs have driven away all the respectable folk. At first Gonzales Springs looked perfect, but test footage showed it was too run down to be believable, and the Art Director determined it would be less expensive to build a set than to fix the town up to a suitable state of decay.
As I sit here the place is nearly deserted. Besides myself there are only three people in the cantina; the bartender, mayor, and postmaster and two ranch hands. They seem to be waiting for something, too.
Gray Feather (new nom de plume)
“Gonzales Springs, settled in 1697 by Don Gonzales Gonzales Jr. recipient of a grant of land from the Viceroy of New Spain. He brought with him a number of Friars to found the mission.”
Not much is known about his early life. Born Gonzales Hernado Huevos Rancheros Jeronimo Juan Garcia Gonzales in 1657(?), the third son of a Bishop of a minor city in Andalusia. His mother was an unknown drifter, his father died at his birth. He began preparing for the priesthood, but determined to make his fortune in the New World, he took working passage on a ship to Veracruz in 1669.
In Mexico he made a name for himself as a soldier and explorer and was granted a large tract of land on the condition that he support a mission to convert the natives. He settled near these springs, the only reliable source of water in the vicinity.
The ranch was a success, in a minor way. The lack of water and forage meant few cattle could survive. The mission immediately began converting the native Indians, who resisted the change in lifestyle and the suppression of their traditional beliefs. Most died rather than convert, and those who did take up agriculture quickly starved because of the lack of rain for crops.
In 1708 a new Superior arrived and almost immediately the number of conversions reported to the Church rose significantly, in fact the mission was awarded a Papal Gold Star for efficiency in 1710 and each year thereafter until 1716 when it was realized that, with almost 800 converts in the past 7 years the mission had not requested any more staff and had not mentioned building a larger chapel.
In 1718 an emissary from Rome visited and found that the new Superior had instituted a new method of conversion. Since it was always a fight to convert the locals he had worked out a system in which they were first killed, then baptized and given last rites all at once. The slight shift in sequence really made no difference to the victims, and was much easier for the mission staff.
In 1720 the mission was awarded a Papal Gold Jewel-Encrusted Cross for Creativity and Innovation.
After the area became part of the United States in the mid-1840s the mission fell into disrepair and the lands of the rancho were appropriated by new settlers. The abandoned mission gained some infamy as a hideout for outlaws, notable Pancho Villa during his raids into the U.S. The town itself became a hangout and supply center for prospectors and smugglers until access was improved by the arrival of the Interstate Highway in the 1980s.
The last shot at prosperity came in the early 1990s when Walter Hill was scouting locations for his remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo”. The film, “Last Man Standing”, is set in a dusty Texas border town during Prohibition. The town is nearly deserted and falling into disrepair because two bootlegger gangs have driven away all the respectable folk. At first Gonzales Springs looked perfect, but test footage showed it was too run down to be believable, and the Art Director determined it would be less expensive to build a set than to fix the town up to a suitable state of decay.
As I sit here the place is nearly deserted. Besides myself there are only three people in the cantina; the bartender, mayor, and postmaster and two ranch hands. They seem to be waiting for something, too.
Gray Feather (new nom de plume)