Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Meet the Author at Paragraphs:: "Ranch Life in Hidalgo County after 1850"


Conversation and Booksigning with Robert Ramirez

January 21, 2017 1-3pm

The late Alfonso Ramírez founded New Santander Press more than forty years ago with the publication (1971) of his mother’s work “Ranch Life in Hidalgo County After 1850.” Then, as now, we focus on the history of this region – ­­­New Santander­­­ – the bi­national region (comprising northern Mexico and Deep South Texas that has been home to the Ramírez and Vela families for centuries.

Written more than fifty years ago, this first­ hand account comes from the self-sufficient people who spent most of their lives on ranches, far from the few emerging cities of south Texas. In 1954, college professor (and my grandmother) Emilia Schunior Ramírez researched and wrote the text as part of a project to produce a book on the 100th Anniversary of Hidalgo County. She interviewed her parents and other relatives and wrote this historical portrait which transports the reader back in time and provides details on how people lived more than one hundred fifty years ago.




Planners never completed the book project, and nearly twenty years passed before my father printed the first edition in 1971. In this new edition we have preserved the special character of this original booklet (illustrated with numerous hand drawn pictures) and made very minimal changes to the text.

New material, including dozens of photographs, news accounts and numerous biographies, appear in a separate appendix:

  • Read the history of El Desierto Ranch, the birthplace of the author’s mother—Ángela Schunior Vela—and hear how her novio and future husband (George J. Schunior) maintained a courtship over the then long-distance of fifteen miles.
  • Find out how one of their grandchildren who failed kindergarten because he didn’t speak English became a pioneer in the field of bilingual education.
  • Read the 1902 newspaper account of the tragic drowning of 24-year-old William Schunior, who served in the twin positions as District and County Clerks, and was beloved by family and friends.
This event is free and open to the public.


Paragraphs On Padre Boulevard, 5505 Padre Blvd. South Padre Island, TX

For information call us at 956-433-5057

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