Guerrero

Viejo

settled 10 October 1750

Photo ©1997 J. J. Gallegos
All Rights Reserved

"Guerrero is a fine looking and well constructed town, situated on the northern bank of the Salado. The houses are built of a kind of marble or stone, with flat roofs, surrounded by a wall. The streets and public squares (of which there are two) are well laid off, and the whole place presents an appearance of elegance and neatness. There is one cathedral in the place and several large public buildings. The inhabitants have fine gardens and throughout the place there are numerous groves of orange trees, that give it a most luxuriant and smiling appearance. I could not but regret that civilized people did not inhabit it."¹
This contemporary description of Guerrero was given in 1842 by a member of the Somervell Expedition—an expedition composed of mostly Anglo-Texan adventurers. At the time, the villa was nearing its hundred years of existence. Notwithstanding the viewpoint on the people of Guerrero, a rather ironic one considering that a few days earlier this observer had participated in the sacking and raping of the women of the upriver village of Laredo—a village that by legislative fiat was supposedly part of the Republic of Texas, one nonetheless gets the sense of the serene beauty that this Mexican village of Guerrero presented to the visitor. Sadly, today one can only try to imagine the fragrance of orange blossoms permeating Guerrero during the spring.
Established during the late colonial period as part of the Colony of Nuevo Santander, this venerable, historic, and water-entombed villa today beacons out to many in Northeastern Mexico, South Texas and beyond as their ancestral home. Just as important, perhaps, is that Guerrero and its inhabitants participated in the history of a colonial superpower in the New World as well as in the histories of four young republics, one which was still-born.
This page, then, is dedicated to all things about Guerrero Viejo, Tamaulipas (known as Revilla during colonial times). As more information on Guerrero Viejo gets collected and formatted, it'll be placed here. In essence, this page will be a work that is continously in progress. For those of you who have roots here, welcome home!

History

Censuses

Index Guerrero Viejo—Baptism Index for 1751-1803

Memoria Miguel Martines' Memoria—1750

Memoria Vicente Guerra Cañamar's Memoria—1750

Revista Escandon's 1753 Census of Guerrero Viejo

Nomina Guerrero Viejo—1757 Alternate Census

1757 Census Tienda de Cuervo's Official 1757 Census of Guerrero Viejo

1780 Census Guerrero Viejo—1780 Census

1791 Census Guerrero Viejo—1791 Census

1802 Census—In Work

1821 Census—In Work

1823 Census Guerrero Viejo—1823 Census

1828 Census—In Work

1860 Census 1860 Zapata Co., Texas Census

Genealogies

Lisarraras y Cuellar Descendants of Antonio Lisarraras and Ana de Cuellar

Martinez Descendants of Miguel Martinez and Clara Treviño

Biographical Sketches

Photos

Shared Experience Good Photos of Guerrero Viejo

From my Bookshelf

Books that refer to Guerrero Viejo

Dolores, Revilla and Laredo: Three Sister Settlements by Rogelia O. Garcia
Epigrafia de Revilla y Ciudad Guerrero by Manuel Ignacio Salinas Dominguez
Guerrero Viejo by Elena Poniatowska and Richard Payne
Guerrero Viejo: A Photographic Essay by Lori Brown McVey
Jose de Escandon and the Founding of Nuevo Santander by Lawrence Francis Hill
La Antigua Revilla en la Leyenda de los Tiempos by Lorenzo de la Garza
Laredo, Antonio Zapata and the Republic of the Rio Grande by Stan Green
Sabers on the Rio Grande by Jerry Thompson
The Kingdom of Zapata by Virgil N. Lott and Mercurio Martinez

Book Reviews
These are books from my bookshelf that I have reviewed and recommend. I have teamed-up with Amazon.com to make these books available for sale. Check the reviews and see what you think. If you decide to buy the book you can obtain it through them—many sell at a discount.

Return to Borderlands History Page

Phone Home