The Defect of History

 THE DEFECT OF HISTORY

I think before I begin with Don Manuel Becerra, I'd like everyone who's following my posts to take a step back for a moment, and examine a few things here. I think it's important because what I'm about to say ties into Manuel Becerra, Hobart Huson (Refugio attorney for the O'Connors), Power & Hewetson, etc. What's difficult is that what I'm going to argue about is not really 'boring.' It's what makes the difference between believing one system of thought over another, one's view of history over another. So why would that be important and what is the connection to Stolen Heritage?

Well for starters, it helps to clarify a few things. So, let's dive

right into this. For instance, they say there's a difference when one says the "Past" and one says "History." It is true, the past is only what has happened at some point before now. Once "the past" is gone it's gone forever. The only thing left is the evidence. This evidence is what is interpreted by humans like us, who happen to be historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, etc. So, what sets the "past" apart from "history?" Well, that what sets it apart is the narratives and perspectives that historians provide. This is what we call "history."

As such, people like Hobart Huson and others feel that examining pictures, listening to storytelling, glossing over old documents, using old source material will somehow validate what they have to say. Yet, each one of these so-called historians like Huson is a human being who differs from everyone else by sex and gender; origin, nationality, ethnicity, and community; education, and culture; wealth and occupation; politics and ideology and therefore come to hold different views, have different agendas and create different interpretations of what they take the past to be.

Here's what I'm trying to say: This is the defect of history. I guess because at one point or another we all act like historians, just like Hobart Huson. I mean talk about fiction, that's what history primarily is. You never know whether for one reason or another, well-intentioned or not, these historians are creating things that they wished had happened or thought happened or would like to have happened. Perhaps because it satisfies their own preconception of what they think the history should have been. In other words, "the well is tainted." This is why a man as ignorant as Hobart Huson could never have known the past to any precise degree, his writing was based on his personal perspective, his take on history, his defect.

I mean anyone can copy paste factual statements about Don Manuel Becerra. I will entertain that in my next post. My point is that at some point, when we zoom in to his early years, we know that he already had land in Refugio. He was traveling back and forth from La Bahia to Refugio. I'll point out that fact and point out the person who said it as well. But the point is bigger than that, and much bigger than Huson could ever allude to. The point is that as we zoom in to to something so remote and far back, we have to rely on the assumption that he did own land in Refugio.

We don't need to try and prove it like a historian. The reason I say that is because there is virtually no way of ever knowing what area of land he was cultivating prior to 1820. We must start there and not pay heed to a high-priced Refugio attorney claiming his stake to history when all he did was copy paste prior narratives and simple facts together. He was by no stretch a historian!! Yes, I am reading his books concerning the facts and stories that he pasted together. But it's not real history, he was nothing more than a charlatan and a fraud. I'll leave everyone with this. At some point, when Don Manuel Becerra staked his property in Refugio, WE must claim it! We claim it, screw Huson. Yet, we know that dates are fine, but in the end, we have to stop with reasons and say he owned land in Refugio. The fact that he had own land prior to 1820 is the foundation for our grounds. On these grounds that is where the spade turns. It can't go down any further. By the way, all these postings and this story should be published in the Texas Monthly. They should hear our story. To be continued...