The Impossible Dream by the Rio Grande, A Documented Chronicle of the Establishment and Annihilation of San Jose de Palafox (Limited First Edition)

THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM BY THE RIO GRANDE, A DOCUMENTED CHRONICLE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT AND ANNIHILATION OF SAN JOSE DE PALAFOX, translated and edited by Carmen Perry, hardcover, stated limited first edition of 200 copies, illustrated with photos and Spanish documents in sepia, 1971. BOOK CONDITION: very good. The text block and illustrations are in fine condition with no dogears, tears, or marks. There is no book plate nor signature of prior owner, but the Texas Historical Commission “Received” is stamped on the first free endpaper. Not a remainder or library book. Note that the special edition information indicates “defective” where the copy number would be indicated. However, I find no defects in this book other than the brown cloth boards being somewhat bowed. 8 ¾ x 11 ½, 96 pages, 25 ounces. XX [From the Handbook of Texas] The Villa de San José de Palafox was an unsuccessful settlement on land that the Spanish crown granted to Mexican settlers during the early nineteenth century. Joaquín Galán received a royal land grant in Coahuila sometime prior to 1804. Galán's tract was located on the Rio Grande in what is now Webb County, halfway between Laredo and San Juan Bautista Presidio. [In] April 1810, Manuel Antonio Cordero y Bustamante, in accordance with the wishes of the Spanish king, condemned a large tract of land that included Garza's property in order to establish a new town. As compensation, Garza received another tract of land adjoining the condemned property. The Spanish government then ordered the establishment of a new town on the margin of the Rio Grande. It was named Palafox, in honor of a Spanish general, Francisco de Palafox y Melci, who won distinction opposing Napoleon's forces in Spain. Juan José Díaz was to administer justice and distribute land to settlers, mostly families from the older settlements of Coahuila, though no money was available to fund the construction of public buildings. The settlers themselves built a church in the center of town. The townspeople prospered by raising livestock, especially sheep and goats, and the town grew from almost 240 inhabitants in 1815 to 277 by the end of 1816. The townspeople, however, soon faced the possibility of depredations by Indians, predominantly Comanches. Indians burned the village in 1818. Some families had returned by 1824, and in 1826 sixty soldiers were ordered to Palafox to build barracks, but the town was finally destroyed in 1829, with the massacre of most of its inhabitants. Attempts were made to restore it under the name of Houston in the 1840s, but by 1850 the name Palafox was again in use. In the 1880s there were two large stores, the Cantú and Alexander stores, at the site; a post office operated from 1886 to 1887 and again from 1905 to 1922. The 1910 census listed forty inhabitants. …