Natalia Sáenz López and Anastacia Sáenz, aunts of the author

This is a brief history of my father's family ranch in South Texas, Rancho El Fresnillo. My two aunts, or tachitas, Natalia and Anastacia, told me many old tales and historic facts about our family. They dedicate the story with great love and affection to their parents, Andrés Sáenz and María Engracia Villarreal. Natalia and Anastacia are two surviving members from a family of ten children.

After I tell my tale, I hope that someone in my family will take the responsibility to pass on the life story of the present family members to the next generation, as individuals leave Rancho San Andrés to live with their spouses and start new families.

I hope that the succeeding generations of our family will be as grateful as I am to Natalia and Anastacia for sharing these memories with us. They were moved by the beauty of their life experiences and were willing to pass it on before it was lost forever. By relating the old family stories of our historic South Texas rancho, they left the unforgettable remembrances of family joys, the happy events, the sorrowful moments, and the hardships that our ancestors endured without modern-day conveniences.

In their lifetimes, our pioneering forefathers shared their faith, beliefs, traditions, and culture. They shared the simplicity of their life, their innocence, their obedience to their parents and older members of the family, their schooling, their work as part of the family, and, above all, the great love that united them. These stories give us a clear picture of how they lived, obeying and respecting the laws of God and country.

Natalia and Anastacia have shared, to the best of their recollection, detailed accounts of what their life was like, beginning in their childhood. They described living with their mother, brothers, and sisters after the death of their father, a lifestyle that was simple, humble, and beautiful. Indeed, their story is a gift to present and future generations who may wish to know about their ancestors, including where they came from and how and where they lived. In the late 1980s, when Natalia and Anastacia related this history, two of their aunts-Eleuterio's wife, Zulema Palacios, and Eustorgio's wife, Rosaura Sáenz-were still living, thus enriching the story.

The original story was written in Spanish as requested by Natalia and Anastacia. I have made an effort to translate as accurately as possible all the information they wished to convey. I attempted to organize it as I collected it and to put the content in chronological order by subject.

I must express appreciation and thanks to José Noé Martínez from Santo Niño Ranch, for facilitating the obtaining of warranty and partition deeds pertinent to this history. Also, I am grateful to the Local History Department of the Corpus Christi Public Library for Nueces County tax assessment information from their microfilm collection.

It has been a joy and privilege for me to record and compile this information from my tías.