Enduring Women: Evie Patton
The Texas Story Project.
Evie Patton is a 7th-generation Texan who continues her family's ranching story on the Medina River in southern Bexar County.
The Ruiz-Herrera Ranch, on the National Register of Historic Places, has been passed down through family members for almost two centuries. Part of a Spanish land grant made to Juan Manuel Ruiz in the late 1700s, the ranch includes two jacals, rare examples of traditionally Hispanic ranch houses. Evie's great-great grandmother helped build the structures by plastering and smoothing mud into the walls. The marks left by her fingers are still visible today.
Living in a traditionally male-dominated rural world, enduring women like Evie Patton are the essence of perseverance, courage, and fortitude as they find new ways to protect and preserve their family heritage on the land.
This Texas story was originally produced for the Bullock Museum's Enduring Women exhibition, created in collaboration with St. Edward's University. Credits: Victor Vergara, oral historian; Kelly Zhu, photographer. Images courtesy of St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas.
Posted March 24, 2015
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TAGGED WITH: Hispanic Heritage History Month, Historic Buildings, Mexican-American Experience, Pioneer Experience, Preserving History, Ranching, Rural Experience, Women's Experience
