Biographical Note
Santiago Tafolla (1837-1911) was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico to Mariano Tafolla and Josafa Gutiérrez. He had five sisters and two brothers. A military officer in the Mexican Army, Santiago’s father was killed while transporting money from the Mexican capitol when Santiago was only three. His mother died when he was seven, and he went to live with his oldest brother Lorenzo. He was unhappy with his treatment at his brother’s and ran away at age eleven.
Invited on board a passing wagon train by American Robert A. Matthews, Santiago headed east. He traveled with Matthews through Missouri, Ohio, Maryland, and New York, ending in Washington D.C. Santiago stayed in Matthews’ care in Washington. When Mr. Matthews moved to Talbotton, Georgia, Santiago stayed in South Carolina with Matthew’s brother. Unhappy there, Santiago ran away again, continuing on to Talbotton, where he stayed with a relative of Robert Matthews, Dr. F.T. Matthews. During this time, Santiago was converted in a camp meeting.
Growing up, Santiago tried shoe making then tailoring. Unhappy with both professions and wanting to go back to Mexico, he enlisted at seventeen for a five year term in the army. During this process, he met Jefferson Davis, who was then Secretary of War. Traveling with the army, he ended up in Texas. In 1856, he saw San Antonio for the first time. During his time in the army, he fought with the Indians and narrowly missed getting charged with desertion after a fight with a non-commission officer. He left the army in 1860. He married Juanita Torres, who he had met in the service. Shortly after his marriage, he received 160 acres as head of household from the state of Texas and started his own ranch called Bear Creek on Privilege Creek.
In 1862, Santiago joined the Confederate army and marched to Brownsville under the command of Colonel Duff. They guarded the Texas border from the mouth of the Rio Grande to Eagle Pass. After some troubling incidents with some of the other soldiers, who Santiago said “had hanged several men who didn’t go along with their ideas,” Santiago and some of the other mexicano Confederate soldiers began to fear for their lives and decided to desert to Mexico (70). This plan coincided with the Confederate defeat at Vicksburg in 1864. Santiago believed at this point that the Confederate cause was doomed. He sent for his family after he arrived in Mexico and stayed there until 1865. He then returned to his ranch in Texas.
In February 1868, his first wife got pneumonia and died. The couple had three girls and two boys: Pete, Juanita, Catarina, Molly, and Santana. A little over a year later, in May 1869, Santiago renewed his acquaintance with Anastacia Mercado, a widow with two children, Juan J. and Maria. He married her in June. During this time in his life, Santiago worked at various ranching related jobs both on his ranch and other ranches. His work turned to more dishonest dealings as he began to deal in hides taken from poached cattle. He was elected Justice of the Peace for Bandera County in May of 1876. An election, he implies in his memoir that was predicated on his turning a blind eye to illegal activities. He ends his writings here. This time period marks a major turning point in Santiago’s life as he began to become more involved with his faith and presumably ended his unlawful activities. In October 1876, he was granted a pastoral license. In December, he resigned as Justice of the Peace and began the difficult life of a Methodist preacher in predominantly Catholic communities He started his ministry as a pastor in Laredo, Texas, but spent most of it as an itinerate preacher. In addition to the seven children he and Anastacia shared when they began their marriage, they had seven more: Gabriel, Santiago Jr., Mariano F., Ernesto, Lott, Anita, and Santana. Santiago worked up into his seventies and died in 1911 while preaching at his pulpit at age 74.
Fidel Tafolla (1898 – 1971) was Santiago’s grandson, son of Santiago’s son Mariano, Sr. through Santiago’s second marriage to Anastacia Salinas. He was an educator, getting his Bachelor of Arts as well as a Masters’ degree from Texas State University. He worked as a Spanish teacher at Main Avenue (now Fox Tech) and Thomas Jefferson High Schools in San Antonio, Texas. His career continued at Lanier High School, as he went from Dean of Boys to Vice-Principle and finally to Principle. He retired in 1968. The San Antonio Independent School District has chosen to honor him by naming a school after him, the Fidel Tafolla, Jr. High School.
Fidel made a personal project of getting Santiago’s autobiography published. He personally translated the original text from Spanish to English. He was still looking for a publisher when he died of a heart attack.
Carmen Tafolla (1951 - ) is Santiago’s great-granddaughter. Her father is Mariano Jr., Fidel’s brother and son of Mariano Sr. In 2012, she was chosen as the first Poet Laurate for the city of San Antonio, Texas, and in 2015 was named Poet Laurate for the entire state.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains the archive of Santiago Tafolla, which includes Santiago’s 1908 handwritten memoir. The Tafolla archive includes personal and research material related to Santiago Tafolla and his family, including photographs, correspondence, records of military service, and books. Some research material, along with a few personal documents and correspondence, belonged to Fidel Tafolla, grandson of Santiago, who initiated researching and editing Santiago’s memoir. This collection includes multiple handwritten and typed drafts and translations of Santiago’s memoir, which was eventually published in 2009 by Santiago’s great-granddaughters, Carmen Tafolla and Laura Tafolla, under the title A Life Crossing Borders. Several drafts of the memoir are titled Nearing the End of the Trail, the working name Fidel used.