Author takes on challenge of telling the stories of Mexican pioneers
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Book cover of "Federico Villalba's Texas: A Mexican Pioneer's Life in the Big Bend" by Juan Manuel Casas. The author is in town this week for several book signings.
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Book signing schedule for author Juan Manuel Casas:
2-4 p.m. - Friday at Long Leaf Coffee Company, 215 S. Main St.
11 a.m.-1 p.m. - Saturday at Victoria Public Library, 302 N. Main St.
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GET IT SIGNED
Book signing schedule for author Juan Manuel Casas:
2-4 p.m. - Friday at Long Leaf Coffee Company, 215 S. Main St.
11 a.m.-1 p.m. - Saturday at Victoria Public Library, 302 N. Main St.
3-5 p.m. - Saturday at Hastings, 5206 N. Navarro St.
You probably don't know the name Federico Villalba, but he was among the first pioneers to tame the Big Bend area of Texas.
It's not your fault, however. His name, along with many other Mexican pioneers, are missing from the pages of history books, author Juan Manuel Casas said.
It's something that Casas is trying to remedy through his book "Federico Villalba's Texas: A Mexican Pioneer's Life in the Big Bend."
Published in 2008, the book tells the story of Villalba, who is also Casas' great-grandfather, on his adventures during the early settlements along the Rio Grande and in the Big Bend.
"The only thing really written about Mexicans were the bad things but they were the pioneers, the first ones in Big Bend. They tamed it," Casas said. "Yet nothing is done or said in their favor."
That is, until now, he added. Thanks to the book, now other Hispanic families are coming out about the role their ancestors played in the early days of Texas.
"A lot of Mexican pioneer stories are buried but luckily, this book is bringing out families. People are finally realizing that Mexicans settled Big Bend," he said. "I'm proud to say I stirred the pot."
On Friday and Saturday, Casas, of California, will be in Victoria to hold book signings and give presentations about "Federico Villalba's Texas" in multiple locations, including the Victoria Public Library and Hastings.
A graduate of California Southern Law School and Trinity College & University, Casas was inspired to write the book for his mother after she was upset she couldn't find any information on her grandfather. Three years of research and 300 pages later, the book was published by Iron Mountain Press in Houston.
"If I had looked for a plot this imaginative, I couldn't find one," Casas said, describing the wild tales he discovered about his family. "I used to hear my grandma tell stories about shooting a jackrabbit off a horse, but, of course, we always dismissed them. After researching, I came to find out all these crazy things were true."
Casas is working on a prequel to his book that chronicles the Villalba family's life in Italy and migration to Sicily and then Spain.
"Federico Villalba's Texas" is available at Hastings, as well as online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. For more information on the book, go to www.ironmtnpress.com/book_villalba.asp.
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Comments
Ok, Thanks April. If 1880 is the time frame, I believe any legal citizen would have been an American, not a Mexican.
And ancedotal history based on one's ancestors is all this publication truely is. I could come up with the same type of book about how my g'pa came over from Prague in 1900 by himself, followed other Czech speakers to Nebraska, then moved to South Texas after the first winter. Would anybody beyond the family care? Doubtful.
Same as with this writers work.
March 18, 2010 at 8:55 p.m.The book begins in 1880. The author's research consisted of his own family's oral and written history, as well as written and oral accounts offered by other authors and historians and historical documents.
According to the introduction in the book, the author's family originally came to Mexico in 1767 from Spain.
Hope that clears up some of the confusion.
March 18, 2010 at 9:35 a.m.to redwhiteblue: love it, great point about Senor Martin De Leon.
March 18, 2010 at 8:40 a.m.Well, shucks, folks. Are we forgetting it was a Mexican who founded our great little 'ol town? Yes, sir. Senor Martin DeLeon. Come to find out, it was to pay homage to their president, Guadalupe Victoria, that the name was included in the land grant. To delve too deeply into our early history would tell a shameful tale of Mexican settlers and their families murdered or run off their land. Too much oil under that 'thar acreage for them to keep. History has its biases, but it is our story. Did Davy Crockett really wear a coonskin hat? Was there really a line drawn in the sand at the Alamo? Any "evidence" of that? Perhaps we should then lend credence to the "stories" handed down by our early pioneers, Mexicans and whites. Once again, ignorance and prejudice rears its ugly head. We are better than that. But then again, for the scholars and historians to tell a truthful and unbiased tale of our Texas history may have simply been "verboten."
March 17, 2010 at 11:17 p.m.God bless America. God bless our military and our veterans, and may God protect our police officers everywhere. Go stings!
"Shooting jackrabbits off the back of a horse" is enough to tell me the author is 1. Never been on a horse, 2.Never shot a gun, 3.Seen a cottontail at the zoo, 4. From California, 5. And is full of the stuff the Advocate is complaining about being in the air lately.
Were the settlers Spanish, or Mexican? "Written in 2008", but chronicles what period of time? Hello? Mrs. Reporter?
March 17, 2010 at 9:25 p.m."Casas is working on a prequel to his book that chronicles the Villalba family's life in Italy and migration to Sicily and then Spain."
If he was from Italy and then moved from Sicily to Spain, how does that make him a MEXICAN?
March 17, 2010 at 8:17 p.m.