1978 0806 Valley's Oldest Law Officer Remains Active

Has Served 51 Years As A Law Enforcer
by Betty Shepard - Valley Morning Star News Staff 

 Ed Moody ~ Valley Morning (Star Photo) ~ Los Fresnos 

"Dead Man's Curve" Google aerial map view courtesy of Ron & Kathy Ogdee @ "Growing up San Benito"

1953 Jose Rodriguez Torres was suspected of brutally murdering goat herder Juan Meza whose head was struck about ten times.  with a small ax or hatchet.  Deputy Luis Cortez was the size of a giant. (Brownsville Herald archives)

1976 Ed Moody Sr sworn in as Laguna Vista Police Chief (Vol. 26 No. 49 Port Isabel / South Padre Press Decemeber 2, 1976)

Thanks to Ed and Ceci Moody for sharing this real history of a border law enforcer.  Dead Man's Curve image shared by Leo Rodriguez, administrator of "Growing up San Benito, Texas" FB page.  Illustration by Charles Shaw - Texas Monthly Hunting Guide by John Jefferson.

Shepard, Betty.  "Valley's Oldest Law Officer Remains Active:  Has Served 51 Years As A Law Enforcer."  Valley Morning Star.  p.D-10.  Sunday, August 6, 1978.

N Bridge reference in Brownsville, Texas (unfinished post)

2010 Tierra de Nadie ~ "Vomito Negro"

I posted this on my Facebook page a way while back.  Enjoy.

Gaston Saldana / Photography

 The filming of Tierra de Nadie (No Man’s Land) – for an episode titled “Vomito Negro” (Black Vomit a.k.a. “Yellow Fever”). Written and Produced by Enrique Cattaneo and Directed by Jorge de Colima. Shot on location on E. Elizabeth St. between 10th and 11th Streets in Brownsville, Texas on August 18, 2010. Spoiler info: Details that might give away too much of the storyline next [ but this never aired so read on...]

 Writer/Producer Enrique Cattaneo explains a scene which will be filmed on Elizabeth and 10th St. to Peter “Hurry up and Wait” Goodman. Goodman is the Downtown Historic District Director and Film Commissioner for the City of Brownsville.

 Dennyce Isabel Martinez Soto rehearses her lines as the van is prepped for filming in front of the Historic Downtown Heritage Department at the Market Square building

 Enrique Cattaneo watches the van as it travels up Elizabeth St. toward 10th St.

 The interior van scene as it was filmed going past the City Hall (former Federal Courthouse) on Elizabeth and 10th St. in front of the Majestic Theater building.

 Downtown Heritage Director Joe “Wanna hear a joke?” Gavito, Production Assistant Rossy Treviño, Enrique Cattaneo and Ernesto Elizondo, Jr. on the Elizabeth St. set. Elizondo worked as and liaison for the Televisa producers and staff to work with the city and UTB/TSC. He also helped cast local talent for the production.

 Anthony Elizondo as a ghost with yellow fever gets made-up for a scene filmed August 20, 2010 in the Anulfo L. Oliveira Memorial Library at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College (UTB/TSC).

 A Ft. Brown nurse who became a ghost after getting Yellow Fever gets her cap put on by Enrique.

 Anthony Elizondo gets in character in front of William Crawford Gorgas’ portrait in the Hunter Room at UTB/TSC. Gorgas came to Ft. Brown in 1882 and eventually developed methods to eradicate yellow fever epidemics by eliminating breeding conditions for mosquitoes that spread the fever. 

 In this scene as student library worker hears “someone” while alone in the Hunter Room. Although this was a very tight area to shoot in, the arrangement of book stacks (shelves) was an advantage to crew members who were only a couple feet away but out of the camera’s vision.

 Director Jorge “That was perfect! Let’s do it again” de Colima reviews the ghost nurse as seen on the monitor. Colima, who is from Brownsville and went to film school in New York, re-wrote a lot of these scenes with Cattaneo.

 Three nurses ready to reenact daily scenes around the Ft. Brown hospital now called Gorgas Hall at UTB/TSC August 21, 2010

 Director Jorge de Colima checks the camera for filming of historic scenes within the corridors of the Ft. Brown hospital.

 A typical scene of nurses and soldiers as they would have appeared a century ago as it was filmed for the Tierra de Nadie Televisa program (it was never aired - If anyone has any info to share about this please contact)

 Jorge de Colima uses a 16mm camera to film an old style hand-held camera shot.

The four horsemen behind the Gorgas Hall building at UTB/TSC. Fort Brown, built in 1867 was once a reserve for cavalry, infantry and artillery servicemen. The first three from left to right "Echevarría brothers" from La Feria and “Ricardo” at far right.

 This horse rider is rehearsing his scene down the paseo (brick walkway) which was once Heintzelman Rd. when the college was a fort. A common ghost story at UTB/TSC describes a rider coming down this path at night through a green amorphous mist. The horse’s name is Cody.

Dennyce stands on the paseo at UTB/TSC as the next scene is set-up.

 Two horsemen under the infamous “hanging tree” where people claim to be a hotspot for paranormal activity

 These horse riders (Echevarría brothers) and handlers from La Feria generously donated their horses and riding skills to bring the ghost stories to life.

 The Televisa crew outside the Anulfo L. Oliveira Memorial Library after a night filming that lasted until 4 a.m. on August 20, 2010.

1912 Clarksville ~ A Ghastly Discovery

March 27, 1912 Brownsville Herald clipping

1847 map of Brazos Pass at Padre Island

[map borrowed from Steve Hathcock's South Padre TV blog]

CLARKSVILLE, TEXAS (Cameron County). Clarksville was near the mouth of the Rio Grande, opposite the Mexican city of Bagdad. During the Mexican War a temporary army camp stood there, with William H. Clark, a civilian, in charge. Clark set up a country store and served as agent for the steamship lines using the port. The town quickly developed; houses were built up on stilts to be above high water. During the early part of the Civil War Clarksville thrived on the trade of the Confederate blockade-runners, but in 1863 it was captured by federals, who held it most of the time until the end of the war. The last battle of the war was fought four miles away at Palmito Ranch^qv. In 1867 Clarksville was almost destroyed by a hurricane but survived during the days of the river steamer. In 1872 it received another blow when the railway was built from Brownsville to Point Isabel, and severe storms in 1874 and 1886 finished it. In 1953 the river had changed its course and flowed over the site of Clarksville.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Houston Chronicle, April 19, 1926. Dick King, Ghost Towns of Texas (San Antonio: Naylor, 1953). Florence J. Scott, Old Rough and Ready on the Rio Grande (San Antonio: Naylor, 1935).

Cyrus Tilloson, "CLARKSVILLE, TX (CAMERON COUNTY)," Handbook of Texas Online(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvc54), accessed May 07, 2015. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Ghost of Fort Brown days

 MySpace cover page.  Well that didn't last long did it?

 Another cover design using real photo of Ft Brown soldier from Robert Runyon collection.

 I hung around with these guys for a short while and came up with many versions.

I li'l homage to Iron Maiden.  

Tierra de Nadie ~ No Man's Land

Tierra de Nadie was filmed in most part in downtown and the UTB/TSC college at the time.  What I recall is that it was a pilot for a sci-fi series for television kind of like X-Files which would have a different paranormal investigation including UFOs, ghosts, chupacabras.. you get the picture.  I'll probably never find out exactly why it never reached the airwaves or if we maybe missed it but will update later.  Enjoy the photos and video at the end for now!

 Ft. Brown nurse cares for boy sick from yellow fever.  Late 1800's maybe.  The actor is John Elizondo.

 Uh oh.. I think she was maybe his mother.

Twenty-first century news reporter sells editor on idea for paranormal investigation at college which was once a U.S. Army Fort.

 I really don't know how the hell this fits in with the story which I make up as we go along ... I'll ask Dr. Ernesto Elizondo on the right later on.  And WHAT is that poster chart in the background about?

 OK!  This is my favorite part!  The investigative reporter is in the library reading up on the haunted history of the Fort Brown and deaths from Yellow Fever, cholera, and all sorts of gruesome diseases.  Well looky here ...

 ... now she done stirred up a ghost to come creep up on on her.

 Local talent was cast for many parts in the filming of this pilot.

There are several stories told by night employees of the college who have reported seeing a boy "with sunken eyes... all black" that is looking for his mother or silently floats towards people who run away scared.  Another tie-in to the story is of a woman asking where the hospital is at then disappears.  These incidents, all told by different employees, share similarities and occurred in a closed fence area that used to be between the library and student center at the time (70's thru 90's named after Camille Lighter I think...).  If you've ever read or heard of a book called "The Ghosts of Fort Brown" you're familiar with many of the stories.  Click that "link" below and it will open the webpage in a new window.

--> The Ghosts of Fort Brown Webpage <--

I really need to insert more info here especially for the photographer who took these awesome photos... I'm pretty sure it's Gaston Photography.  I took a few photos but we rather see his.

This scene ties in with the actual legend of the bugler who has been seen or heard or both riding down the paseo which runs along the tennis courts today but has always been a road where cavalry soldiers rode their horses.  

I know this actor is famous here and in Mexico but I do not recall her name.  I'll get producer and director and all I can  later... Producer is in 3rd and 4th photos I think.