Third time the charm: Victoria founded on De Leon family’s third colony attempt

Tamara Diaz | tdiaz@vicad.com  | Jun 16, 2022 Updated Jul 22, 2023

Blanche De Leon presented the history of her family — the founding family of Victoria — at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Victoria County Historical Commission.

De Leon said she has been immersed in her family’s history for as long as she can remember and hopes to use her broad knowledge to dispel myths that have persisted.

One of those myths was the burial place of Martin De Leon was at Evergreen Cemetery. She said it is not known where his remains are buried.

Blanche De Leon said the founding family settled in Victoria on their third attempt to colonize in Texas, which was not Texas at the time. That third time was a charm — it was the time that took hold and became Victoria.

She stressed what she called “probables,” and shot down untruths, such as one that said, “Martin De Leon was a Mexican aristocrat who hated Anglos.” She said this myth probably stemmed from the problem that De Leon had with Green DeWitt and other members of DeWitt’s colony, who were smuggling tobacco, which was against the law.

De Leon, she said, followed rules, and, as such, he disdained those who did not. DeWitt did not, in this instance, follow the rules.

She explained during Martin’s time all Texans, including Stephen Austin, were Mexicans. Before he was a Mexican, De Leon was a Spaniard, as were all other people in the region at that time.

She also dispelled myths surrounding the Street of 10 Friends. Who were the 10 friends? She said it was probable they were military men who could protect the colony, men with names such as Ahumada and Santa Anna. She said documentation supporting this assertion exists.

She also pointed out the De Leon family “lost their fortune aiding the Texas Revolution.” Even so, they were exiled and most of their land was “usurped and reappropriated,” she said.

She discussed the statues of De Leon and Patricia de la Garza, which are in the works for Victoria’s bicentennial in 2024.

“Martin De Leon was not a mariachi, and he’s not going to be dressed like one,” she said, to the audience’s delight. De la Garza’s likeness will be recreated by a forensic artist from Houston and based on 100 photographs of her descendants.

“There’s no shame in embracing the Hispanic history that is unique to Victoria,” she said. “It’s real, and it should be honored.”