MARIE SALDAÑA
I explore the borderlands of history, data, and design.
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SEARCHING FOR CATARINO GARZA IN THE NUECES STRIP
2026
This story map explores the entanglement of material, spatial, and social networks of defense during the Garza revolution as a prefiguration of contemporary borderland issues. Against this unsettled backdrop, a cultural landscape of defense and obfuscation emerged as families used “weapons of the weak” to resist the occupation and despoliation of their homeland (Scott, 1985).
Ranchers built fortified, fire-resistant houses of massive stone blocks where the only openings besides the door were gun loopholes, while also making use of ephemeral materials such as reeds for jacales - auxiliary structures which could easily be abandoned or relocated. They took advantage of the nearly featureless, arid, and brushy landscape to confuse outsiders and conceal, and thus preserve, their way of life. In addition to material strategies, families built tightly interwoven social networks through marriage and compadrazgo (godparenthood), which moved information quickly to insiders and deliberately withheld or misrepresented it to outsiders, including the US Army.
Related Activities
Material and Social Networks of Defense in the 19th century Texas-Mexico Borderlands
Conference Presentation, March 2026
Association for Borderlands Studies Conference, Albuquerque, NM.
Taming the Wild Horse DesertDigital Project, Ongoing
Database, maps and network visualizations linking people, places, and buildings.