Remains in rio could be of USS Rio Bravo
cccTwo trails on the dense brush of the river levee, used by the immigrants to hide from U.S. Border Patrol agents, lead to the sunken boat. Some of its wood can been seen above the surface of the water a few hundred feet from Gateway International Bridge. ccc``The boat was brought to the Rio Grande in the 1870s, which was a time of great unrest with (the rebel) Juan Cortinas and the border bandits, said Barto Arnold, a nautical archealogist with the Institute of Nautical Archeology at Texas A&M University. ccc``It is really an interesting boat, Arnold said of the steamboat that once sailed in a river full of raids, political tensions and blood-tainted water. ccc``It was actually involved in a plot to start another war with Mexico. They had some fake incidents staged in a plot that could have started it. cccArnold and Brownsville anthropologist Tony Zavaleta have teamed up to save the century-old ship before it becomes a pile of old wood. The trio recently visited the site, about 400 yards from the bridge, and are in the process of making it a National Historic Site. cccIt doesnt mean they will excavate the ship, but preserve it as a registered site, said Zavaleta, dean of college of liberal arts at the University of Texas at Brownsville. ccc``It doesnt look like much but when you sit there and study it for a while, you can see that it is a major vessel, Zavaleta said of the ship which was approximately 50-feet-long. ``Its a pretty good size vessel. You can see the timbers and the pegholes. ccc``If you sit here long enough, you start to see the rigging, the stern and the bow, he added. cccThe Rio Bravo, the Spanish name for the Rio Grande, was an Alabama steamboat that in 1875 the U.S. Navy gave to Texas. Its mission: To patrol the Rio Grande and stop the notorious bandits that plagued the Texas border with Mexico. cccThe gunship had four howitzer guns and a 30-pound rifle gun, according to the Texas State Historical Association. It carried eight officers and 45 state troopers. cccRio Bravo was led by Lt. Cmdr. Dewitt C. Kells, who along with Texas Rangers Capt. L. H. McNelly tried to stage a Mexican raid in order to start war with them, according to the association. cccWithin two days of arriving in Brownsville, Kells outlined his strategy to local officials. ccc``It could be arranged to have this vessel fired upon... (to) have an excuse to return fire, destroy Mexican ranches and land, occupy Mexican soil ... (and) avenge the insult to the United States flag, said Kells, according to a book from the association. cccHis plan was to send McNellys men to fire at the ship from Mexico, thus prompting the Rio Bravo to shoot back. This would stage the war at Las Cuevas in the Matamoros area, where it was believed that Cortina sold his stolen cattle. cccWashington officials disapproved of the planned raid and ordered the Rio Bravo not to be used in such event. Kells and McNelly went forth and attacked a small ranch in Matamoros anyhow but without the aid of the Rio Bravo. cccThe gunboat patrolled the Rio Grande until 1880, when an accident took place. ccc``One of its boilers exploded, said historian Bruce Aiken. ``I dont know how many people were killed but there were several. That basically put the boat out of operation. cccRecords dont show if the ship sank as a result of the accident, or if it sank by itself after being abandoned, Zavaleta said. cccThis brings forward the controversy of the ship that is buried on the banks of the river - is it the Rio Bravo or the USS Corvette? ccc``There are two possibilities according to local folk knowledge, said Arnold, who has studied sunken wrecks since the early 1970s including the 1554 shipwreck found in South Padre Island, The Denbigh in Galveston and the The Belle, a ship of French explorer Le Salle which sunk in the Matagorda Bay. cccArnold said the Corvette was a 143-ton cargo steamboat owned by Mifflin Kennedy, one of the founding fathers of Brownsville and the Kennedy Ranch. ccc``The Corvette started out during the Mexican-American War and eventually sank in the river, Arnold said. ``But that is one of the things we hope to determine, which ship it is. cccThe Corvette was used during the Civil War to mule cotton for the Confederate States of America to Europe and haul firearms and money back to them. cccThe Rio Grande was a passive ally to the Confederacy, and Kennedy was there to capatilize on it, according to local legend. ccc``The whole coast would be blockaded during the Civil War but not the mouth of the river, Zavaleta said. ``If the Yankees would have blocked the river, that would have created an international war and French forces would have come in. ccc``So the river was left alone, he said. cccConfederate cotton was shipped down the river by steamboats with Mexican flags, Zavaleta said. ccc``A lot of vessels were Confederate but flying under the Mexican flag. And the American forces would have to let them pass, Zavaleta said. ccc``It was the lifeline to the Confederacy, Zavaleta said. ``Confederate cotton was going to Europe and money and arms were coming to the Confederates. cccIt is not clear if the Corvette participated in the hauling of cotton for Confederates. But it started out as a supply ship for General Zachary Taylors army, Arnold said. ccc``He actually rode onto the Corvette to invade Mexico, Arnold said. ``And Kennedy being the captain of it is important for Texas history. cccThe fate of the Corvette is unknown. But the ship in the river more likely is the Rio Bravo, Arnold said. cccThe wreck is larger than the Corvette and the timbers that stick out of the river, are heavy-duty timbers, Arnold said. cccThe length also suggests a large gunboat, Zavaleta said. ccc``Its not by any means 100 percent, but it seems to be leaning toward the Rio Bravo, Arnold said. cccWhether its one or the other, Arnold and Zavaleta hope to get it registered as a National Historic Registry Site. cccBut even once registered, the ship will remain as a stepping stone for those people it once used to detest on the Rio Grande. |
