My passion for writing is based on both my parents' love of early South Texas and northern Mexico history. My father was quite good at sharing oral history stories and for that reason I dedicate this book to him. Equally important, my mother, Maria de la Luz Sâanchez Uribe de Lâopez was also gifted in recalling the stories she heard as a child. In both Spanish and English, she had tremendous communication abilities in vividly remembering stories about our ancestors.