King and Kennedy vs. Simon Celaya and the Rio Grande Railroad
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
Brownsville has a rich railroad history. At any given time, the great railroads of American history have steamed through our fair city. Brownsville once had a beautiful Missouri-Pacific train depot next to the Hotel El Jardin. The Historic Brownsville Museum is housed in what was once the Southern Pacific train depot. My grandmother told stories of soldiers boarding the trains at the Southern Pacific depot heading off to fight the Nazis during World War II. Today, the Union Pacific railyard still has an abandoned train depot behind what was once called East Fronton Street. While most of the rail lines that ran through Brownsville have been relocated, there are still some arteries that run from the port out towards where the 77 Flea Market is. My house used to shake as the train passed just feet from where I slept. Brownsville was a railroad town.
Brownsville also has a connection to a long forgotten railroad — the Rio Grande Railroad. The railroad was created as a response to Richard King and Mifflin Kennedy's stranglehold on transportation between Point Isabel and Brownsville. King and Kennedy owned two dozen steamships that would ferry people from Point Isabel (later renamed Port Isabel) and Brownsville. Since King and Kennedy owned the only means of transportation, they were free to charge whatever rates they saw fit. Many people of the time believed the rate was too expensive. Among those people was Simon Celaya. Celaya would gather a group of investors and make plans to build a narrow-gauge railroad from Point Isabel to Brownsville. Construction began on the railroad in 1871. The railroad took two years to complete.
King and Kennedy did their best to prevent the railroad from being completed. The City of Brownsville, on behalf of King and Kennedy (who author Anna Cora Petz called the "uncrowned kings of the Rio Grande Valley") sued the investors of the Rio Grande Railroad to court, citing a provision in the state charter that said the railroad could only be built to the edge of the city limits and could not go into the heart of Brownsville. E.J. Davis was the lawyer who represented the Rio Grande Railroad (Davis would later go on to be elected Governor of Texas). In the end, David and the Rio Grande Railroad emerged victorious. They were allowed to build the railroad the extra mile directly into town.
The Rio Grande Railroad was the little railroad that could. It was one of the earliest railroads in South Texas, and one of the shortest. The route only spanned 20 miles. The railroad experienced several technical difficulties. The first two locomotives used were not efficient — they used up too much water and had to be refilled at a resaca before their journey was complete. Eventually, the railroad would replace those two with four newer, more efficient locomotives.
Anna Cora Petz writes about Don Jose Ayala in her article. Ayala worked for the Rio Grande Railroad for 45 years. He began his career with the railroad as a blacksmith, and eventually became one of the master mechanics in charge of keeping one of the railroad's four locomotives in service. He would continue to work for the railroad right up until a few days before he died in 1926.
The railroad would gain notoriety for its role in an 1891 train robbery. The train was on its way to Point Isabel from Brownsville when around halfway through its journey it was attacked. A group of bandits loosened the tracks and pulled them apart, causing the locomotive to derail. The bandits held up the passengers and conductor at gunpoint. They robbed the passengers (all with the exception of a Presbyterian minister who threw his money in the grass as the thieves approached — he was later able to recover all the money he threw in the brush) and the 60,000 dollars worth of Mexican silver the train carried. Some of the passengers were able to recognize the voices of some of the bandits. One female passenger was able to recognize one of the men — she had seen him in town casing the Rio Grande Railroad office earlier.
The bandits were able to make off with the silver. One of them climbed a nearby telegraph pole and cut the wire so the people in Brownsville wouldn't be able to immediately find out about the robbery. After a couple of hours, the passengers eventually escaped one of the railcars with the help of a young passerby. They were able to telegraph Point Isabel for help.
After an investigation, the Cameron County Sheriff, a man by the name of Mr. Brito, was able to find a local blacksmith, as well as people who sold the bandits horses, saddles, and ammunition used in the attack. The two ringleaders, Fabian Garcia and Jose Maria Mosqueda, were arrested. The others escaped into Mexico.
Not all of the silver was recovered. Only about two-thirds of the Mexican silver was found. It is rumored that the other 20,000 dollars-worth of silver is buried out in the land somewhere between the train derailment site and Brownsville. The treasure has sparked adventurous treasure hunters to search for the missing silver. To date, nobody has been successful.
The railroad had already been on the decline when a storm caused major damage to the railroad in 1906. The railroad would continue to operate into the late 1920's, although towards the end of the railroad's life, it only ferried a handful of passengers between Brownsville and Point Isabel.
Petz would write an anecdote that would be immortalized in a photograph of a Rio Grande Railroad locomotive. Petz writes:
Eventually, other railroad entrepreneurs would rebuild the Rio Grande Railroad in a standard gauge and operate the line.
The history of the Rio Grande Railroad might be a short one, but it is definitely a colorful one. Today, those traveling from Brownsville to Port Isabel can look to their right and see the black locomotives of the Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railroad ready to switch a load from the Port of Brownsville to the Union Pacific switching station across the highway from the 77 Flea Market.
Brownsville's railroad history hasn't reached its conclusion just yet.
Brownsville has a rich railroad history. At any given time, the great railroads of American history have steamed through our fair city. Brownsville once had a beautiful Missouri-Pacific train depot next to the Hotel El Jardin. The Historic Brownsville Museum is housed in what was once the Southern Pacific train depot. My grandmother told stories of soldiers boarding the trains at the Southern Pacific depot heading off to fight the Nazis during World War II. Today, the Union Pacific railyard still has an abandoned train depot behind what was once called East Fronton Street. While most of the rail lines that ran through Brownsville have been relocated, there are still some arteries that run from the port out towards where the 77 Flea Market is. My house used to shake as the train passed just feet from where I slept. Brownsville was a railroad town.
Brownsville also has a connection to a long forgotten railroad — the Rio Grande Railroad. The railroad was created as a response to Richard King and Mifflin Kennedy's stranglehold on transportation between Point Isabel and Brownsville. King and Kennedy owned two dozen steamships that would ferry people from Point Isabel (later renamed Port Isabel) and Brownsville. Since King and Kennedy owned the only means of transportation, they were free to charge whatever rates they saw fit. Many people of the time believed the rate was too expensive. Among those people was Simon Celaya. Celaya would gather a group of investors and make plans to build a narrow-gauge railroad from Point Isabel to Brownsville. Construction began on the railroad in 1871. The railroad took two years to complete.
King and Kennedy did their best to prevent the railroad from being completed. The City of Brownsville, on behalf of King and Kennedy (who author Anna Cora Petz called the "uncrowned kings of the Rio Grande Valley") sued the investors of the Rio Grande Railroad to court, citing a provision in the state charter that said the railroad could only be built to the edge of the city limits and could not go into the heart of Brownsville. E.J. Davis was the lawyer who represented the Rio Grande Railroad (Davis would later go on to be elected Governor of Texas). In the end, David and the Rio Grande Railroad emerged victorious. They were allowed to build the railroad the extra mile directly into town.
The Rio Grande Railroad was the little railroad that could. It was one of the earliest railroads in South Texas, and one of the shortest. The route only spanned 20 miles. The railroad experienced several technical difficulties. The first two locomotives used were not efficient — they used up too much water and had to be refilled at a resaca before their journey was complete. Eventually, the railroad would replace those two with four newer, more efficient locomotives.
Anna Cora Petz writes about Don Jose Ayala in her article. Ayala worked for the Rio Grande Railroad for 45 years. He began his career with the railroad as a blacksmith, and eventually became one of the master mechanics in charge of keeping one of the railroad's four locomotives in service. He would continue to work for the railroad right up until a few days before he died in 1926.
The railroad would gain notoriety for its role in an 1891 train robbery. The train was on its way to Point Isabel from Brownsville when around halfway through its journey it was attacked. A group of bandits loosened the tracks and pulled them apart, causing the locomotive to derail. The bandits held up the passengers and conductor at gunpoint. They robbed the passengers (all with the exception of a Presbyterian minister who threw his money in the grass as the thieves approached — he was later able to recover all the money he threw in the brush) and the 60,000 dollars worth of Mexican silver the train carried. Some of the passengers were able to recognize the voices of some of the bandits. One female passenger was able to recognize one of the men — she had seen him in town casing the Rio Grande Railroad office earlier.
The bandits were able to make off with the silver. One of them climbed a nearby telegraph pole and cut the wire so the people in Brownsville wouldn't be able to immediately find out about the robbery. After a couple of hours, the passengers eventually escaped one of the railcars with the help of a young passerby. They were able to telegraph Point Isabel for help.
After an investigation, the Cameron County Sheriff, a man by the name of Mr. Brito, was able to find a local blacksmith, as well as people who sold the bandits horses, saddles, and ammunition used in the attack. The two ringleaders, Fabian Garcia and Jose Maria Mosqueda, were arrested. The others escaped into Mexico.
Not all of the silver was recovered. Only about two-thirds of the Mexican silver was found. It is rumored that the other 20,000 dollars-worth of silver is buried out in the land somewhere between the train derailment site and Brownsville. The treasure has sparked adventurous treasure hunters to search for the missing silver. To date, nobody has been successful.
The railroad had already been on the decline when a storm caused major damage to the railroad in 1906. The railroad would continue to operate into the late 1920's, although towards the end of the railroad's life, it only ferried a handful of passengers between Brownsville and Point Isabel.
Petz would write an anecdote that would be immortalized in a photograph of a Rio Grande Railroad locomotive. Petz writes:
A Brownsville photographer went to Port Isabel for the purpose of doing some photographic work there. The train stopped at a small midway station. The photographer, after waiting for a long time, began to grow impatient and got down to see what the trouble was. What he saw was a situation which struck him as exceedingly funny. A gang plank had been stretched from the tank to the engine. Across this plank a number of Mexicans were carrying pails of water to the engine. He took a picture of the scene and found a ready sale for it in the Valley, when it was broadcast later in the form of postcards. The management of the Rio Grande Railroad, however, failed to see the humor of the situation.
Eventually, other railroad entrepreneurs would rebuild the Rio Grande Railroad in a standard gauge and operate the line.
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| The image of the locomotive being fed water |
The history of the Rio Grande Railroad might be a short one, but it is definitely a colorful one. Today, those traveling from Brownsville to Port Isabel can look to their right and see the black locomotives of the Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railroad ready to switch a load from the Port of Brownsville to the Union Pacific switching station across the highway from the 77 Flea Market.
Brownsville's railroad history hasn't reached its conclusion just yet.
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