The Monitor from McAllen, Texas • 109

900 C3K J1 4 TUESDAY NOVEMBER 9 1993 IP I alcon Lake area residents recall old times Texas invest more higher edu Hidalgo Museum I encourages spaying and neutering 7P 225 hotel and motel rooms is just going great and the growth has all been related to the she said The lake called out to Dave Mertens a 46 year old Minnesotan who came as a winter visitor and eventually settled for good His rustic museum and gift shop a blend of history whimsy and kitsch called the rontier Ranch has tapped into a steady stream of curious visitors But Mertens knows most of his customers do not come to this isolated stretch of road to look at his arrowheads and caged snakes looking into our future going to be one of the things that will help us that cation in South 3P By DAVE HARMON The Monitor Legal System: The courts move slower in Hidalgo than in Cameron counties 5P History: 83 year old Edin burg man recalls the day in 1939 when the Hidalgo Reynosa bridge came tum bling down 6P History: The County Historical sets a series of special seminars and events 4P 5" CT I ZAPATA Cruz Torres was I just a child when her parents and six siblings moved from their wood frame home in old Zapata to their brick house in new Zapata Site remembers the old neighborhoods swallowed by the waters of alcon Lake the consternation on the older faces and the hope of a brighter future on others was exciting and frightening at the same said Torres a University of Texas Pan American sociology professor who runs the Holiday Restaurant in Zapata with her husband Ramiro Torres orty years ago on Oct 19 President Dwight Eisenhower came here to dedicate alcon Dam the culmination of a $47 million effort and the first international water project Today the lake a reservoir actually symbolizes both the future and past for local residents And the emotions like the river held at bay by earth and concrete still run strong and deep At the Siesta Motel and Sports Center manager Roy Garza eagerly awaits the return of the Winter Texans who will more than double his business by snapping up hunting and fishing gear do have a lot of business because of our said Garza a Zapata native Roberto Garza who was bom in old Guerrero just across the river and now lives in Zapata remembers the sad resignation his 13 year old eyes saw in 1953 as their town disappeared people want to he said as he clipped weeds in cemetery Mertens said Bitter memories Looking back 87300 acres of water have not been able to wash away the bitterness for roughly 5000 people on both sides of the river who were forced to leave their homes 40 years we still resent to some extent the loss of our said 66 year old Hector Lopez Jr owner of the White House Restaurant in Zapata The restaurant serves as an unofficial museum to Zapata lost towns with paintings of the old buildings adorning the walls Lopez whose family founded Lopeno in 1735 points to the San wanted to Buried history The residents of Revilla Mexico founded the village of Zapata on land granted by Col Jos6 de Escanddn in the 1750s The town grew to be the second largest on the Rio Grande and its residents shuffled through a series of names: Habitacidn to Carrizo to Bellville then back to Carrizo The citizens settled on Zapata in 1 898 in honor of Antonio Zapata a rancher executed for his role in the fight to found the Republic of the Rio Grande As the colonization effort spread ranches built on land granted by Escanddn spawned smaller communities that still bear their names Settlers cut the blocks for their homes from native sandstone They fought off the local Indians who tried to drive them out and settled into quiet lives that rotated around the crops and the livestock Many residents still trace their roots to the original settlers Now 1953 marks the division between and in each town Their memories were the casualties of progress The engineers and construction crews finished the 26294 foot dam taming the capricious river and cranking up hydroelectric power plants to bring electricity to both sides The floodgates were closed and waters rose catching the low lying towns by surprise when nature unleashed one last assault down the Rio Grande Along Business Highway 83 the historical markers are lined up like tombstones each bearing the name of a submerged town Zapata Lopefio Ramireno alcdn Guerrero Pedro Catholic Church where he and his four brothers were baptized Other paintings bring back the school house in Uribeiio the old Lopeno customs house and the Zapata Courthouse built in 1898 A small plaque under each painting identifies the building and ends with the same obituary: Buried under the waters of alcon Lake had a pool hall we had a dancing hall all of them could have been moved but now all Lopez said However the sadness does not brush away his recognition of the strides made since 1953 See DAM page 8P Health: or the first time Medicare will be covering influenza shots for older Americans just as health officials warn of a severe flu season 2P Sports: Major league dreams are afield at a pro fessional baseball tryout camp 3P Education: Sourred on bv the threat of litigation Animals: Humane Society state begins to resources into Lany Ciubb The Monitor nrtv Ypars On alcon Dani dedicated on Oct 19 1953 by President life for residents of old towns like Lopeno and Guerrero that were lost Dwight Eisenhower created a massive new reservoir and a new way of beneath the water IN THIS SECTION TURISTA ood: Ranch bred ostrich meat stacks up well next to beef and may be coming soon to a store or restau rant near you 2P Long division Most residents say the dam brought progress and a better life Marilyn Wieters a 1 3 year resident of Zapata and tourism director for the Chamber of Commerce said the town has flourished "Most of our retail business prospers from the lake plus all of the tourists who come into she said "It has a very large economic The population has almost doubled since the 1970s and Zapata goes out of its way to emphasize its two prized resources the lake and the climate A cowboy swinging a golf club graces a sign greeting visitors to this one time farming and ranching region: to Zapata Home of alcon Recreational vehicle parks have sprung up Tourists including more than 5000 Winter Texans flock to the area Wieters looked haggard as she flchlflfY pepaivu IVI uuva iu vuvv tournaments which will fill the I A ft i OB it iiMi1 if pwwwwiwwni 1 Mi 015 Mr Zak BHIBy i'jEA wi IMfiMi I I i wai I KA4Kte ft 'a? ni imi nr As '93 i a I 4 a a 1 i rf i XL I I Hr xLsJy I I 1 'l 1 4 1 ifo iV 2y jpl zsX r7 'y if SbSLlES' XX' XW xU 3 (I £sr a if jW JMBP AB ATWW MT A4 7WM i Mr: 1: til 3TrTa JHilMnKiJf 101 BIT TmBSwr watwMje '4 ak a 1e A Sfcjg jfJKA jj JMW a TMBBMrgsJLn a IV 1 LVfwJ'vj 18 a SI II ti a a I Ml 1 Ik I 'I MiY IMJ i WgM tfvW i 1 VZ 3 1 I xy1'jrlzv Sft sraETi MEHaggSi sa I Ain U1 re fwWl 'rf' a El 'I rH i Essr Im 3EK i I I KI ELj UJ gHgss I iBwwl' KWi "ffri i i.