Don Victoriano Chapa - Don Prisciliano Chapa

Don Victoriano Chapa - Don Prisciliano Chapa. . In Live Oak County, two generations of the Chapa family are remembered for their imprint on the land and the people. The family does not appear to have descended from aristocracy, yet those who knew them best bestowed the traditional honorific term Don to father and son for their character and reputation., Victoriano Chapa (c. 1812-1901) was born in rural Mexico near Matamoros. Little is known about his early life, but notably he and another boy were captured by Comanche Indians, finally escaping after four years. While captive, they accompanied the warriors on many raids into south Texas, thereby becoming familiar with the terrain. Victoriano married Manuella Longoria and the couple had three children; their younger son, Prisciliano, was Victoriano's lifelong companion, particularly after Manuella's death in 1857., Prisciliano Chapa (1840-1919) learned to work with his father at an early age. Father and son came to Texas in 1856. Victoriano became a mesteñero, breaking and herding wild horses. In the 1870s, the Chapas were herding cattle with T.J. Lyne on Padre Island, when the men moved to Live Oak County where there was ample unclaimed grazing land. Victoriano bought his first property in 1877 along Spring Creek in the southwest part of the county, the first transactions toward more than 8,000 acres known as Chapa Pasture. On this land, Victoriano and Prisciliano raised Spanish horses and Longhorn cattle, and provided parcels for their workers to cultivate. By all accounts, the Chapas and their neighbors took care of each other and the land. In 1901, Prisciliano persuaded Victoriano to sell the ranch and lease back one portion to live on for the rest of their lives. Both men are buried at Chapa Pasture. Their lives were a bridge between the old Spanish feudal system and south Texas 20th century town development.