Celebrating 100 Years of the Texas Folklore Society, 1909-2009 Page: 297
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MEXICAN AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN FOLK HEALERS 297
Pedrito's moral duty to heal him. He did so by prescribing the first
thing that came to his mind, "a tepid bath daily for three days."17
Because his remedies came to him, and most dealt with drinking
water in a specific ritualistic manner, Don Pedrito became known as
a faith healer. Don Pedrito "claimed that God had bestowed on him
the power to heal the sick; to say which prescriptions, given in the
name of God and executed with faith and in the name of God, had
power to heal."18 Even now, people who believe in Don Pedrito's
healing power often take their medication evoking not only God,
but also Don Pedrito. People's faith in his healing abilities is such
that in Laredo, Texas, a "firm ... that supplies curative herbs uses
his picture and the trademark, 'Don Pedrito.' "19
The Benefactor of Humanity was born a humble man and
remained humble throughout his life. Following the traditional
belief within healers' practices of not charging for their services but
simply accepting donations, Don Pedrito's essential needs were
always more than met. A man by the name of Antonio Hinojosas
gave Don Pedrito 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 . . . water-
melons, cashews ... peppers, garbanzos . . . and garlic."20 All of
these were given away.
Don Pedrito often purchased groceries and left them in a spe-
cial room in his home called the "store." These groceries were left
for those people who came to see him from far away places and
might miss him because he was attending to clients elsewhere, such
as Corpus Cristi, San Antonio, or Laredo. Don Pedrito would
"buy four or five hundred dollars' worth of groceries at a time" to
stock his store where "nothing was sold." For Don Pedrito,
"where need existed, food was given."21 Another remarkable
action that illustrates his deep understanding of the need for reci-
procity-as a healing aspect in and of itself-is reflected in his com-
mitment to his community in desperate moments of need. "When
Don Pedrito had been at Los Olmos about ten years a most terri-
ble drought visited the country. It began in 1893 and lasted several
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Texas Folklore Society. Celebrating 100 Years of the Texas Folklore Society, 1909-2009, book, December 15, 2009; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc271470/m1/310/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.