SAN DIEGO — There lives a tale in the brushland between Benavides, Texas, and Parás, Mexico, a story of injustice and heartbreak that’s been often sung but seldom written.
That legend describes the shootings of three men: Crescencio Oliveira Jr., Dionisio Maldonado and Vicente Aguilar.
Texas Rangers killed them 102 years ago.
A crowd of about 200 crammed into the courthouse for the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge.
It says unequivocally that those three men were murdered. It also honors their memory and contends that “justice against the Texas Rangers was never resolved.”
Vicenta Aguilar gets emotional as she holds a plaque close to her chest during the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge Oct. 15 in San Diego, Texas. Aguilar is the grand niece of Vicente Aguilar. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])A candlelight vigil held at the Duval County Courthouse acknowledges the killings of Cresencio Oliveira Jr., Dionisio Maldonado and Vicente Aguilar by Texas Rangers 102 years ago Oct. 15 in San Diego. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])The cross of Dionisio Maldonado is seen at the Benavides cemetery Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022 in San Diego, Texas. A commemoration of three men that were murdered by Texas Rangers in Duval County on April 1, 1920. This incident has left a wound on the South Texas community of Duval County for over a hundred years. The three men who were murdered were Cresencio Oliveira Jr., Dionisio Maldonado and Vicente Aguilar. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Simon Saenz, a volunteer at the cemetery, was on hand in October, the day the proclamation was read. He’d heard about the ceremony in San Diego and suspected someone might need to be led to the men’s graves Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022 in San Diego, Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Wensesada Garcia Maldonado, a granddaughter of Dionisio Maldonado, holds up a photo of her grandfather Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, in San Diego, Texas. The legend describes the killings of Cresencio Oliveira Jr., Dionisio Maldonado and Vicente Aguilar by Texas Rangers 102 years ago. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Many were emotional during the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge Oct. 15 in San Diego, Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Elda Maldonado Canales, Lydia Oliviera Canales, and Vicenta Aguilar, the granddaughters of Cresencio Oliveira Jr., Dionisio Maldonado and Vicente Aguilar during the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge Oct. 15 in San Diego, Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])“We are deeply honored and we are so grateful, because this is allowing us to reconnect as family and as friends,” Marianella Quiroga Franklin, the great-granddaughter of Dionisio Maldonado, said. “Here we are 100 and some years later and the Oliveras, the Aguilars and the Maldonados are still together. We are one big, strong, resilient family.” The family tree of the Maldonados and the Villarreals is seen during the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge Oct. 15 in San Diego, Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Elda Maldonado Canales of Parás, Mexico, is the granddaughter of Dionisio Maldonado, listens during the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge Oct. 15 in San Diego, Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Vicenta Aguilar wipes tears from her face after the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge Oct. 15 in San Diego, Texas. Aguilar is the grand niece of Vicente Aguilar. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Standing by the graves, Simon Saenz recalls a corrido and sings a verse from memory, clenching a fist and stretching out Maldonado lyrically. “That’s what we used to sing, growing up,” he said after the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge Oct. 15 in San Diego, Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Vicente Aguilar, Lydia Oliviera Canales and Elda Maldonado Canales, the granddaughters of Vicente Aguilar, Cresencio Oliveira Jr. and Dionisio Maldonado, during the reading of a proclamation drafted by the Duval County Historical Commission and signed by a county judge Oct. 15 in San Diego, Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])
