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A native of Mier, Tamaulipas, Mexico, Felipe Guerra Hinojosa (b. 1824) married Josefa Gonzalez Garcia, the daughter of Prudencio Gonzalez and Antonia Garcia, in 1845. The young couple moved onto property belonging to his father-in-law near Roma and established a ranching headquarters. They had five children: Emeteria (m. Antonio Falcon), Jesus (m. Manuela Barrera), Emilia (m. Jose A. Salinas), Francisco (m. Mercedes Pena) and Deodoro (m. Matilde Guerra). Felipe purchased additional land and raised and sold thousands of horses and goats. After the Civil War, Felipe switched to raising cattle exclusively.
He hired many servants, herders, stock raisers and shepherds, most of whom lived at the ranch with their families, totaling 80 inhabitants counted on the 1870 census. Emilia's husband Jose A. Salinas and Ezra B. Houston were hired to teach Spanish and English. By 1880, Felipe owned one of the largest ranches in the county, boasting 46,000 acres of land and 980 head of cattle. Around 1891, Felipe died and was buried near his ranch house. Jose and Emilia inherited the headquarters of the Las Escobas Ranch and 18,000 acres. Their nine children, Francisco, Zaragoza, Margarita, Jose R., Salvador, Manuela, Paulita, Ramona and Eduardo, inherited sub-divisions with names such as La Gabiota, El Chapote, El Monte, El Siete, El Fresnito, El Gato and El Llano.
Generations of Jose and Emilia's descendants have made impacts on the region. Many of them continued to ranch their original holdings. Uvaldo, Lauro, Ruben and Servando Salinas modernized ranching operations with soil and water conservation tactics. Descendants have become law enforcement, doctors, attorneys and leaders in the agriculture and education fields. Las Escobas is one of the largest continually operating ranches in Starr County. |
