1-1                                     1
 1-2                          SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 704
 1-3           WHEREAS, The first settlers of the region known as
 1-4     Arid-America, known for their nomadic character, traveled from
 1-5     south to north, such as the tribes of the Coahuiltecans, the
 1-6     Chichimecas, and the Huastecans, the same as those tribes that
 1-7     traveled from north to south, such as the Karankawas, because
 1-8     they did not have frontiers and enjoyed full freedom of movement;
 1-9     in the 18th century, Spanish explorers and colonizers identified
1-10     and named more than 50 tribes in the region called Nuevo Santander;
1-11     and
1-12           WHEREAS, The first Europeans who explored the coasts and
1-13     territories bordering what is called today the Gulf of Mexico
1-14     were Spaniards, such as Juan Ponce de Leon, Juan de Grijalba,
1-15     Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, Diego de Camargo, Hernan Cortes,
1-16     Francisco de Garay, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Hernando de
1-17     Soto-Luis de Moscoso, Alonso de Leon "El Mozo," Manuel Rivas,
1-18     and many others who took possession of those enormous territories
1-19     in the name of the Crown of Spain; and
1-20           WHEREAS, The Spanish colony called "New Spain" covered
1-21     the period from 1521 to 1821, a time known as the colonial era,
1-22     included the immense territory formed by parts of the present
1-23     states of Texas, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila, which were
1-24     possessions of the Crown of Spain through the Viceroyalty of
 2-1     New Spain; and
 2-2           WHEREAS, The Spanish religious missionaries who came from
 2-3     the colleges of the propagation of the faith in Queretaro and
 2-4     Zacatecas founded, in the 17th and 18th centuries, many missions
 2-5     in the provinces of the Nuevo Reino de Leon, Coahuila y Texas,
 2-6     and the coast of the Seno Mexicano, later called Nuevo Santander;
 2-7     thanks to this, the missionaries were able to evangelize and
 2-8     pacify many tribes, to whom they taught art and trades in addition
 2-9     to which they gave a common language, Spanish, whereupon they
2-10     could communicate among themselves; these missionary activities
2-11     prepared the way for the later establishment of settlements; and
2-12           WHEREAS, In 1747, Don Jose de Escandon y Helguera, Count of
2-13     Sierra Gorda, made an exploratory expedition, by order of
2-14     Viceroy Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcasitas, with the objective
2-15     of developing a project to colonize the province of Nuevo Santander;
2-16     to achieve it, Escandon ordered various military leaders to meet
2-17     at the mouth of the Rio Bravo or the Rio Grande del Norte, which
2-18     was done the 24th of February of 1847 at a site 12 leagues from
2-19     the mouth of the Rio Bravo or Grande; Escandon made his camp at
2-20     this location; his exploratory column was made up of the following
2-21     groups:  a captain with his people from Queretaro; a captain and
2-22     his soldiers from San Luis Potosi; Captain Antonio Fernandez de Acuna
2-23     with 150 men from Tula; the mayordomo of the Hacienda San Alberto
2-24     with 40 men; from Panuco and Tampico, a captain with 150 soldiers;
2-25     from the village of Valles, a captain with 150 men; from the Bahia
2-26     de Espiritu Santo and from the presidio of Adaes, Captain
 3-1     Joaquin Orobio Basterra with 50 soldiers; from Coahuila, Captain
 3-2     Miguel de la Garza Falcon, with 50 men and 25 Indian allies; from
 3-3     Nuevo Leon, Captain Blas Maria de la Garza Falcon with 42 soldiers;
 3-4     from Linares, Captain Antonio Ladron de Guevara with 53 soldiers;
 3-5     from Nuevo Leon, Captain Carlos Cantu and the mayor of Labradores,
 3-6     Francisco Manrique de Lara; and two missionaries from Queretaro,
 3-7     Fray Jose de Velasco and Fray Lorenzo de Medina; altogether, a
 3-8     contingent of 750 men that explored for three months the region
 3-9     along both sides of the Rio Bravo or Rio Grande; and
3-10           WHEREAS, Don Jose de Escandon y Helguera was commissioned
3-11     250 years ago, by Viceroy Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcasitas,
3-12     Count of Revillagigedo, through a royal decree dated May 31, 1748,
3-13     to undertake the founding of 14 villages in the Colony of
3-14     Nuevo Santander; and
3-15           WHEREAS, The portion of land delimited to establish the
3-16     Colony of Nuevo Santander is formed by a rectangle that comprises
3-17     a distance of 200 leagues along the coast of the Seno Mexicano or
3-18     Gulf of Mexico, which begins at the Rio Panuco, and reaches to
3-19     the Bahia de Espiritu Santo, and the mouth of the San Antonio River;
3-20     and 70-80 leagues wide from the coast to the limits of the province
3-21     of the Nuevo Reino de Leon and the province of Coahuila y Texas;
3-22     which is to say, that extension of territory comprises the
3-23     present-day State of Tamaulipas and the southeast part of the
3-24     present-day State of Texas; and
3-25           WHEREAS, Don Manuel Ignacio de Escandon y Llera, Second Count
3-26     of Sierra Gorda, was governor of Nuevo Santander from 1790 to
 4-1     1800 and was living in San Antonio de Bejar in 1792, because of
 4-2     the close relationship that existed between both provinces; and
 4-3           WHEREAS, New Spain gained its independence in 1821 from the
 4-4     Crown of Spain, and all the territory became the Empire of Mexico,
 4-5     first, and the Republic of Mexico, afterwards; and
 4-6           WHEREAS, The province of Texas gained its independence from
 4-7     Mexico to form the Republic of Texas after the Treaties of Velasco
 4-8     were signed at San Jacinto in 1836; the Republic of Texas wanted
 4-9     the Rio Bravo or Grande as its boundary; the northern boundary of
4-10     Nuevo Santander and Tamaulipas was the Rio Nueces; and
4-11           WHEREAS, As a consequence of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
4-12     February 2, 1848, the formation of the new border between Texas
4-13     and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Chihuahua is the
4-14     Rio Bravo or Rio Grande, by which part of the old province of
4-15     Nuevo Santander remained in the State of Texas and part in the
4-16     State of Tamaulipas; and
4-17           WHEREAS, Texas and the states of northeast Mexico have a
4-18     common history, and the Hispanic-Mexican families, founders of
4-19     the principal settlements in the 18th century, had the royal
4-20     permits that made them owners of great expanses of land on both
4-21     sides of the Rio Bravo or Rio Grande, and these titles were
4-22     respected in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; and
4-23           WHEREAS, The founding families of both states have had close
4-24     ties of friendship and kinship, and they share the destiny of
4-25     the same sociological, cultural, and linguistic origins; and
4-26           WHEREAS, The outstanding men and women who have been part
 5-1     of the unique history of this region of the world have left an
 5-2     indelible mark of talent, work, and nobility in a glorious
 5-3     trajectory that is a lesson and guide for the brilliant future
 5-4     for the inhabitants of this blessed land; and
 5-5           WHEREAS, Through Texas and Tamaulipas passes the shortest
 5-6     land route between the capitals of our two countries,
 5-7     Washington, D.C., and the City of Mexico, by which this region
 5-8     is in a favored position to realize all types of industrial,
 5-9     commercial, fishing, agricultural, ranching, technological,
5-10     cultural, and educational developments; this region has
5-11     practiced the spirit of free trade from the time of the Free
5-12     Trade Zone in Tamaulipas (1858) and the Civil War in the
5-13     United States; and
5-14           WHEREAS, Matamoros-Brownsville, Camargo-Rio Grande City,
5-15     Ciudad Mier-Miguel Aleman-Roma, Valle Hermoso-Hidalgo-McAllen,
5-16     Nueva Ciudad Guerrero-Falcon Heights, and Nuevo Laredo-Laredo,
5-17     the sister cities of the Border, are all found in the old province
5-18     of Nuevo Santander and have had close, friendly ties throughout
5-19     their existence, just as they have intense economic, cultural,
5-20     tourist, and historic exchanges; and
5-21           WHEREAS, The Rio Bravo or Rio Grande del Norte today is not
5-22     a barrier that separates Texas and Mexico, but instead represents
5-23     a fountain of life for the inhabitants of both sides of the Border
5-24     because, in addition to supplying us with indispensable water for
5-25     human consumption, agricultural production, cattle, and industry,
5-26     just as for the preservation of natural resources, flora, and
 6-1     fauna, they are benefitted by the blessing of this Grand and
 6-2     Bravo Rio; and
 6-3           WHEREAS, The Congress of the State of Tamaulipas decreed
 6-4     that in 1998 the entire state celebrated the 250th anniversary
 6-5     of the founding of Nuevo Santander with the announcement:
 6-6     "250 Years:  From Nuevo Santander to Nuevo Tamaulipas"; now,
 6-7     therefore, be it
 6-8           RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,
 6-9     76th Legislature, hereby recognize the celebration of the
6-10     250th anniversary of the founding of Nuevo Santander as a tribute
6-11     to the men and women who pioneered the colonization of this vast
6-12     region; and, be it further
6-13           RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for the
6-14     Congress of the the State of Tamaulipas as a memento of this
6-15     auspicious occasion.
6-16                                                    Lucio
6-17           Armbrister           Gallegos            Ogden
6-18           Barrientos           Harris              Ratliff
6-19           Bernsen              Haywood             Shapiro
6-20           Bivins               Jackson             Shapleigh
6-21           Brown                Lindsay             Sibley
6-22           Cain                 Luna                Truan
6-23           Carona               Madla               Wentworth
6-24           Duncan               Moncrief            West
6-25           Ellis                Nelson              Whitmire
6-26           Fraser               Nixon               Zaffirini
6-27                       Perry, President of the Senate
6-28                                  ______________________________________
6-29                                          President of the Senate
6-30                                       I hereby certify that the above
6-31                                  Resolution was adopted by the Senate
6-32                                  on April 23, 1999.
6-33                                  ______________________________________
6-34                                          Secretary of the Senate
6-35                                  ______________________________________
6-36                                           Member, Texas Senate