The Healer of Los Olmos and Other Mexican Lore Page: 14
ix, 139 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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THE HEALER OF LOS OLMOS
He kept the groceries in a lumber room built for that pur-
pose and called "the store," but nothing was sold; where
need existed, food was given.
One of his friends, Don Antonio Hinojosas, made him
a present of a hundred acres of land. This he developed
into a farm. He fenced it, put a small house and a well on
it, and set someone to work it. Here he raised corn for the
making of tortillas (the daily bread of the Mexican in those
days), watermelons, cashaws (the long-necked pumpkin that
the Mexican prefers to other varieties), peppers, garbanzos
(chick-peas), and garlic. Whatever came off the farm went
into Don Pedrito's work. What the curandero received with
one hand he gave away with the other.
When Don Pedrito had been at Los Olmos about ten
years a most terrible drought visited the country. It began
in 1893 and lasted several years. "There was dearth in the
land," as the Bible poetically says; but the plain meaning
is want, scarcity, and famine. Don Albino Canales, son of
Don Andres Canales of Las Cabras Ranch, who was a small
boy at the time, says that Don Pedrito practically fed the
northern part of Starr County (now part of Brooks Coun-
ty). Then the State sent some help in the form of corn and
beans. And Don Pedrito was selected among those to dis-
tribute the food.
Don Pedrito employed people to do the work about his
place and to look after and help those who came.
John Sutherland, whose father was postmaster at Los
Olmos for a number of years, told me that at times there
would be as many as five hundred people camped on Los
Olmos Creek awaiting the return of Don Pedrito. Some
came for miles on foot, others on horseback, others in
wagons and buggies. An entire family might come bringing
one sick member, and at the same time a man might arrive
horseback to ask for remedies for several of his family, his
relatives and friends; and it could have been that this man
had traveled a hundred miles or more to see Don Pedrito.
When Don Pedrito was at home, he would go into his
jacal, or hut, and sit down behind a table. A man he em-
ployed directed the people who passed before him. They14
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The Healer of Los Olmos and Other Mexican Lore (Book)
TCollection of Texas and Mexican folklore, including folktales, Mexican folk remedies, and stories about Don Pedrito Jaramillo, who was the Curandero of Los Olmos. The index begins on page 137.
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Texas Folklore Society. The Healer of Los Olmos and Other Mexican Lore, book, 1951; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67665/m1/24/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.