A José Antonio Navarro: ¡Feliz Cumpleaños!

That is: "'Happy Birthday!' to J.A. Navarro". And yes, I know that if you, dear reader, aren't from Texas (& possibly even if you are) you're asking, "Jose Antonio who?" Well, here's the scoop: of the many heroes from Texas or significantly associated with this heroic state, José Antonio Navarro is in my "Top Three Heroes of Texas"!

On this date (27 February) in the Year of Our Lord 1795, he was born in this city of San Antonio to a father from Corsica and a mother who was a "rose of San Antonio". He was a "patriot's patriot": as a resident of this city all his long life (he died in 1871) he lived under five of the "six flags of Texas". (The only flag missing is that of France, which hardly counts since French occupation was so tenuous and ephemeral.) Navarro fought for the freedom of his beloved native city, first from the imperial Spaniards, then from the dictatorship of Mexican General Santa Anna. He served in legislative bodies for Texas, as a part of Mexico's state of Coahuila y Texas, as an independent Republic, and as one of these United States! Most of all, this native son of San Antonio, a lawyer by profession, fought legally for the rights and heritage of los tejanos -- the native-born Texans of Spanish surname and Spanish or Mexican or mestizo ethnic-cultural background.

This morning the San Antonio Conservation Society hosted a birthday party for this historic and heroic tejano, at Casa Navarro, the family homestead in what is now downtown San Antonio. (In his lifetime, his home and office complex was toward the southwestern outskirts of town.) Several descendants of Navarro were also present, as were the curator, representatives of the "Friends of Casa Navarro" and of the Texas Historical Commission (which just took oversight of the property from the state Parks and Wildlife division), and County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson. The latter read a Proclamation from Bexar County proclaiming the day to be "José Antonio Navarro Day" in honor of his birthday and his tremendous significance for tejanos and for Texans in general.

Navarro, let it be known, was one of two delegates whome San Antonians chose to represent them at the convention in Washington-on-the-Brazos which concluded by declaring Texas free and independent. He and the other San Antonian, his uncle José Francisco Ruiz, were the only native-born Texans (and the only Spanish-surname) to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence. Navarro also served on the committee that drew up the Constitution for the Republic, and later served again on that which framed the state document -- and always he fought vigorously for the equal rights of the original inhabitants of the Lone Star State: los tejanos.

Hi-lite of the Navarro Birthday Party was a re-enactment of a meeting between José Antonio and Sam Houston, in period costume. The Anglo general (actually then still just a colonel) was performed by Mike Waters -- who stand six feet tall if that in contrast to the towering real-life Houston -- and performing as the tejano leader was the man who wrote the script: Maclovio Pérez. Maclovio is a local media personality, weatherman for WOAI. He also is one of voices heard giving the forecast if one dials 225-0404 (time, temp & forecast). I've heard him several times in my years of residence in this city, dialing that number at least a couple of times a week! And now I was getting to meet the man -- in the guise of one of the top heroes of Texas (in my book at the least)!

Title of the Pérez-authored dramatic conversation -- the two gentlemen drank toasts twice -- is "The Winds of Change: Jose Antonio Navarro and General Sam Houston." Let me assure you, the dialog between the two gentlemen sounded quite authentic - true to their personalities and to the politico-social situation of 1835 Texas. Houston spoke with deep concern and conviction about the discontent of the Texian colonists in the east part of the state. And Navarro uttered very unflattering epithets against Santa Anna. I don't know if any such meeting and conversation between the two occurred in Casa Navarro, but I sure hope it did and basically in agreement with Pérez' script!

The program portion of the birthday party segued into refreshments, including tamales a huge layer birthday cake and hot cocoa, served in the kitchen of the Casa Navarro complex. This third building of the complex (the other two being the two-story office and the one-story, porched residence) was surprisingly large; perhaps one of the rooms served as pantry. Many of us took our birthday snacks outside to enjoy them under los ancianos encinos (ancient live oaks) of the property and the blue, clear sky with its warming sunshine. All in all, we threw a terrific birthday party for a terrific Texas hero!