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Grulla Middle School

146 S Farm Rd 2360
956-487-5558

Vision:
Through total cooperation, open communication, and self-pride, our organization will enhance student performance, and involvement, encourage cooperative two-way communication, and provide our students with
the greatest opportunity to become productive citizens.

History:

La Grulla is located on the opposite bank of the Rio Grande from Camargo, and a few miles downstream. It is situated in Porcion 94, originally granted to Pedro Longoria in 1767. Juan Longoria was probably the first Longoria to actually reside in La Grulla. In "Memories from La Grulla on the Rio Grande" Josefina Vera writes "In the year 1836, Juan Longoria Flores, his wife Yrinea Villarreal, and their small children moved across the Rio Grande to settle in that part of their Porcion 94, and called the settlement "Los Mesquititos"...The portales and jacales were hidden by dense mesquite and retama. Thick log fences were built around the yards. Armed men guarded the place day and night. Through a small peep hole in the fence, they could see anyone approaching." This was the beginning of the settlement known today as La Grulla (official post office designation is "Grulla").
The timing of Juan's move across the river is very interesting. It was on March 2, 1836, that Texas declared its independence from Mexico. The Alamo fell on March 6, 1836, and Santa Anna was defeated in the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. With Texas now a republic, many "gringos" started forcing non-Anglo landowners off their lands and confiscating them as their own. To maintain possession of their lands, the non-Anglo citizens had to live on them and fight to keep them. I believe this is what prompted Juan Longoria to relocate his family from Camargo to the future La Grulla in 1836. And he succeeded in maintaining possession of his lands. To this date, some of Juan Longoria's descendants still live in La Grulla.


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