Taming the Wild Horse Desert
Pobladores Database
Miguel Perez
Miguel Perez, at least in 1782, did not belong to an individual named Miguel Perez. The padron cites Ygnacio Garcia as the owner of Miguel Perez ranch. The acts of possession of 1767 state that porcion 26 in Mier was left vacant because Ygnacio Garcia did not appear to claim it, but on the 1782 padron he is listed as the owner of Miguel Perez ranch (assuming the two are the same), but Ygnacio was not living at Miguel Perez in 1782. Identification of Ygnacio Garcia is uncertain.
The origin of the ranch name is obscure. The most probably identification is [Miguel Perez]( details/2312], primitivo poblador, son of Jose Perez and Ana Maria Garcia, and husband of Bernarda Hinojosa. He received a porcion [Camargo 106] not fronting on the river, that his wife and heirs later sold to Ygnacio Ramirez. Further research is needed on his origins and possible association with the ranch called Miguel Perez in the Mier jurisdiction.
The families at Miguel Perez may have been leasing land to pasture their stock. It was the largest ranch in the Mier jurisdiction and is excepcional in that it had the most families who were not close relatives of the original grantees, or of each other. It also had the largest number of families designated as casta. The residents of Miguel Perez ranch would have lived much closer to Camargo than to Mier, and many of them recorded their births, marriages, and burials in that city, although technically they were residents of Mier. Today the area lies below the waters of a reservoir formed by a dam on the San Juan river.
Mier 1782 Padron
The following residents were listed at this place in the 1782 padron (church census) of Mier, Nuevo Santander (listed by household number):
143 Geronimo Rodriguez, español, married, age 59.
143 Maria Isabel Saldivar, española, married, age 44.
143 Jose Antonio Rodriguez, español, single, age 22.
143 Jose Francisco Rodriguez, español, single, age 20.
143 Maria Guadalupe Rodriguez, española, an unmarried girl, age 17.
143 Jose Gregorio Rodriguez, español, a youth, age 15.
143 Jose Panfilo Rodriguez, español, a child, age 12.
143 Jose Cosme Rodriguez, español, a young child, age 6.
144 Jose [Felix] Lopez, español, married, age 57.
144 Maria Nicolasa Garcia, española, married, age 31.
144 Maria Narcisa Lopez, española, an unmarried girl, age 17.
144 Jose Felipe Lopez, español, a youth.
144 Jose Ygnacio Lopez, español, a child.
144 Maria Francisca Lopez, española, a young child.
145 Juan Tomas Garza, casta, married.
145 Maria Gertrudis Vela, casta, married.
145 Jose Antonio Garza, casta, single.
145 Jose Fabian Garza, casta, single.
145 Maria Antonia Garza, casta, an unmarried girl, age 20.
145 Jose Santiago Garza, casta, a youth, age 16.
