The Pharr Press (Pharr, Tex.), Vol. 47, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 16, 1980 Page: 2 of 16
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Page 2A, The Pharr Press, October 16,1980
Nobody asked me, but
by Dorothy Bagwell
Mesquite beans once high hope
for southwest and Valley industry
By Dorothy Mayville
high school. Many of our kids are also
It is so easy to find the bad things to involved in the Interscholastic League
attribute to young people. All you have to activities, such as Ready Writing, Number
do id read the paper or listen to the news on Sense, Poetry Reading, Typing, Choral and
radio or TV, and you can hear all you want to Band activities, and many others. These
about the delinquent behavior of youngsters never seem to be given any
youngsters. Those of us_who work closely publicity or public praise or thanks for the
with children in our schools have more than jobs they are doing.
our share of being made award of the “bad” Gne organization I am particularly proud
kids can do. Administrators, especially, °* this year is our Varsity Cheerleading
seem to have the toughest time of it, as they Squad. Each of these girls exemplifies the
never seem to get to know the average best in our high school youth today. Each
child in school - the one who never gets in seems to have good records in academics,
trouble. With the bad crowding out the They each seem to have personally high
good to such an extent, it is also easy to morals. They certainly have a lot of spirit at
begin to believe that all kids are bad, or at the games, and seem to take their duties as
least that they all do bad things. cheerleaders seriously. It is gratifying to
see them “doing their thing” on Friday
nights.
Common sense, however, tells us that Of coursej the cheerleaders are not the
th£re are some good kids who do good oniy ones who are doing their best to
things. For instance, look as the numbers of demonstrate to the public what young
Ijpys and girls who are presently involved in people can do when they are properly
our sports programs - from elementarv to
y motivate and have a reason to be “good”.
None of these young people are perfect,
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but then, neither are any of us adults.
Sometimes, we set such high standards that
it is difficult for young people to live up to
our expectations. Often in those cases,
young people will give up before they
begin, knowing that it is impossible to reach
the goals set for them by others.
. High standards are important; impossible
standards are potentially destructive forces.
But standards are needed. We all live up to
the expectations others have of us. If we
are expected to be on time to work, we
usually make the effort to do so. If the boss
has no interest in what time we arrive on
the job, we will make no special effort to be
on time, much less early. If we expect that
young people will behave in delinquet
manners, than that is usually exactly what
we get - delinquent behavior. But if we
expect good manners, demand good
manners, expect that they will respect
other peoples’ property, then perhaps they
will live up to those standards.
The home is the original school-house.
The parents are the original teachers.
Anything a child learns before he is six
years old, before he enters public school, is
what will stay with him all of his life. The
parents are the potters, who mold the
vessel; school, church, and society are the
glaziers, the painters, the ones who smooth
out the rough edges and present the
finished product. But inferior material to
begin with will only crumble and break in
the hands of the finishers. Parents - what ar
are your children learning from you?
What brought the very
earliest winter visitor to South
Texas? What annual crop
held out high hopes for a South
Texas coffee industry? What
South Texas resource offers a
storehouse of ingredients for
the kitchen, for the medicine
cabinet, for the cosmetic jar?
Mesquite beans, of course.
For almost one thousand
years the Valley area of South
Texas has been attracting
winter visitors. The first
known seasonal tourists were
coming to Hidalgo county some
eight or nine hundred years
ago. They were the
Coahuiltecan Indians, a semi-
nomadic, loosely knit tribe
made up of small wandering
clans or family groups which
hunted and foraged freely
across the coastal plains and
river valley of South Texas. It
is believed that the Indians
who visited this area every fall
came for the same reasons
that bring weather. Like
today’s winter visitors, they
brought their cooking pots with
them, set up a home base, and
proceeded to feast on special
foods found in this unique
South Texas area, soups and
stews made from mesquite
beans and snails.
To prepare the beans Indian
women dug a hole in the
ground, dumped in the
collected pods and pounded
them to a pulp, mixed withe
earth from the sides of the
hole, seeds, bones, bugs, grubs
and anything else that they
considered edible. Then they
put the whole well-pounded
mess into a pot of boiling river
water, adding snails and
handfuls of dirt to taste.
Delicious!
Pan American University
archeological digs in the
Sullivan City area in 1976 and
1977 turned up the hearth-
stones of these early visitors,
together with a collection of
stones and bone tools and
artifacts uncovered at the
Sheldon Site are now on
display at the Hidalgo County
Historical Museum along with
the story of the archeological
expedition that led to thieir
discovery. Dr. Robert Trotters
PAU anthropology professor,
explains that the camp site was
strategically placed far enough
north of the Rio Grande River
to be safe from flooding, yet
near enough so that the
women could easily get water.
Easily. It was only a mile or so
to the river. (Oh, to live the
free life of an Indian squaw!(
In the late 1800’s a young U.S
Army lieutenant who was
putting in a tour of duty at Fort
Brown fell in love with the
Valley and wrote enthusiastic-
ally of the area, visioning its
great potential in agriculture
and citrus. Also, Lieutenant
Chatfield wrote, he could see
the mesquite tree as a “great
prospective industry”. Its
bark was used for tanning
hides, its beans were sweet
and delicious, “an excellent
food for man or beast”. He
wrote of his trips up the river
to the Hidalgo County area
where he was welcomed by
the settlers and treated to a
sweet pudding, its recipe even
then considered a lost art,
made by mixing a dough of
pounded up mesquite bean
pods with boiling milk. He
compared the taste of a
beverage made from roasted
mesquite beans smelled like
coffee roasting. In fact, he
wrote,“a company was organ-
ized last month, under the laws
of Texas, with headquarters at
San Antonio for the purpose of
preparing and selling mesquite
coffee.” He could forsee the
day, Lieutenant Chatfield
prophesied, when ranch hands
would not be running cattle
but would be “guarding
mesquite trees against poach-
ers. Alas, whatever
happened to our coffee
industry?
The mesquite tree served
as a pharmacopoeia to the early
settlers in the 1 Valley.
Infusions made from the roots
and bark of the tree were
used as a cure for upset
stomach, colic, “nerves” and as
a disinfectant for fresh
wounds. Poultices made from
the beans soothed toothache
and neuralgia and the left-over
cooking water produced an
“excellent” tonic. Mesquite
gum, used by the early Indians
as a glue, also was considered
to releive toothaches. Ladies
mixed the gum with water to
form a complexion paste.
Mesquite leaves made into a
poultice would cure a headache
while pressing the early
morning dew from the leaves
provided a healing solution for
infalmed eyes.
Next time you have the job
of raking up mesquite beans,
put a sprig of mesquite leaves
in your hat to prevent
sunstroke and chew on a
sweet bean pod--be sure to
pick one with purple markings,
they’re the juciest--and con-
sider the mesquite bean, a
true Valley bonanza.
CHURCH DIRECTOR Y
Pharr
Adventist:
SEVENTH DAY
ADVENTIST CHURCH
121 W. Polk
Sabbath School 9:30 a.m.
Worship Service 11 a.m.
Episcopal
TRINITY EPISCOPAL
201 W. Caffery
Morning Prayer 11:00 a.m.
Methodist
PHARR UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
119 Kelly
Morning Worship-10:50
WESLEYAN BIBLE
CHURCH
Corner of N. Sugar Rd. aac
BellAve.
Morning Worship-ILOO a.m.
Assembly of God
ASSEMBLY OF GOD
V* Mi. S. “I" Rd.
Worship Service 11 a.m.
LATIN AMERICAN
ASSEMBLY OF GOD
126 N. Fir
Worship Services 11 a m.
Baptist
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
302 Caffery
Worship Services 11 a.m.
MAGIC VALLEY BAPTIST
1 Mi. S. “I” Rd.
Worship Services 10:45 a.m.
Catholic
ST. JUDE THADDEUS
505 S. Ironwood
Masses Daily 7:00 am, 7:15 pm
ST. MARGARETS
122 W. Hawk
Daily Mass 7-7:30 pm
Community
PEOPLE’S CHURCH
600 W. Sam Houston
Worship Service 7:00 p.m.
Brethern in Christ
PALM VALLEY CHURCH
128 E. Cherokee
Worship Service 7:00 p.m.
Mennonite
Sill
WiM
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
216 W. First St.
Sunday 8 a.m and 6 p m.
Church of Christ
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1125 S. Nebraska
Worship Services 10:30
Community
PEOPLE’S COMMUNITY
CHURCH
800 S. Standard
Worship Ser\ n e j 1 a m.
Lutheran
ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN
'/* Mi. N. Raul Longoria
Spanish Service 9 45
English Service 11 a.in.
Methodist
SAN JUAN METHODIST
800 Nebraska
Worship Services 11 a in.
get it
3
Pictured above is the FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH at the
corner of East Caffery and South Birch. Rev. "Sonny’’ York is
the pastor.
MENNONITE BRETHEREN
BIBLE CHURCH
413 N! Sugar Road
English Worship 9 a.m.
Spanish Worship 11 a.m.
Church of Christ
PHARR CHURCH
OF CHRIST
E. Sam Houston & Fir
Worship Service 10:30
GRACE COMMUNITY
CHURCH
132 N. Sugar Rd.
Worship Service 10:30 a.m.
LA TRINIDAD UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
102 E. Warren St.
English Worship Service 9:50
Spanish Worship Service 11
SAN JUAN
Baptist
FRIST BAPTIST CHURCH
1001 S. Nebraska
Worship Service 10:45
Catholic
OUR LADY OF SAN JUAN
SHRINE
216 W. 1st
Daily Masses 6:30, 8:00, 9:30
ALAMO
Baptist
ALAMO BAPTIST CHURCH
Corner bowie and Alamo Rd.
Worship Services 11 a.m.
MID V ALLEY BIBLE
BAPTIST
One Mi. N. Alarr.o Rd.
Worship at 11 a m.
Catholic
OUR LADY OF FATIMA
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Corner of Citrus and 9th
Sunday Mass 10:00 a.m., Eng.
Spanish Mass at 12:00 noon
ST. JOSEPH
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Corner of Bowie and 77* St.
Sunday Masses 8:3U a.m.
Lutheran
ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH
226 S. Alamo
Worship Services 9:30
Methodist
SAN PABLO METHODIST
307 N. 10th
Services 10:30
None-Denomination
ALAMO COMMUNITY
CHURCH
South 9th and W. Bowie
Worship Services 10:30 a.m.
QUALITY • SAVINGS • SELECTION!
You Are Invited
To A FRANCES DENNEY
“EXPERIENCE IN
LUXURY”
Mary Etta Ballew
The Frances Denney
Consultant will be our store
Oct. 9,1980-10A.M.-12; 2P.M.-5P.M.
to answer your
questions and discuss
the Fine Arts of Cosmetics
and Fragrances.
Please join us on the
above date and discover
1.0
<3S
VIVA
V \lf,MT
t
•4* •» > \% • •. a /»K
DENNEY
V|VA NtOHf
These Sponsers urge You to attend the church of your choice.
Alamo Appliance Mart- Alamo
Mary's Beauty Salon- Pharr
Newcombe Rexall- Pharr
Stinnetts Jewelry- Pharr
Security State Bank- Pharr
Christian Book Shop-El Centro Mall
Chico's Whites Auto Store -Pharr
Hale Hardware-Pharr
Pharr Drug
Hub Floral Shop- Pharr
Pan American Finacial ServicesPharr
Pharr Nursing Home
De Leon Funeral Home -Pharr
Pharr Shoe Repair & Western Wear
Rudy's Upholstry & Discoteca- Pharr
Professional Optical of Pharr
Cantu Supermarket-Pharr
Garcia Pharmacy- Victor Garcia
Montgomery Ward- El Centro Mall
THE NEWEST THINKING IN BEAUTY
Call us for an appointment
and come in for a
complimentary make up analysis.
24 MOW*
ImoitiK,
*'nctoi«nS»v<t
PHARR PRUGT
T£Ufyu\'« AGENCY
friendly and courteous service
101 S. CAGE • PHONI 797-3255
STOW HOURS i-7 MON.-SAX
Wi
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Flores, Chris E. The Pharr Press (Pharr, Tex.), Vol. 47, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 16, 1980, newspaper, October 16, 1980; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth861750/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Pharr Memorial Library.