The New Frontier Black Seminoles work to secure and stablize the region from opposition | Illustration by Lucas Pastorfield-Li Referred to by many as “The Queen City on the Rio Grande,” Del Rio was founded in 1868 and incorporated in November of 1911. The area grew...
The Blanks/July Family Before the Civil War ended in the 1850s and early 1860s, family patriarchs John Blanks and Sampson July migrated to Coahuila, Mexico, in search of employment and freedom from enslavement. John and his wife, Tracia Darling Blanks, left Kerr...
Black Seminole History Black Seminole Scouts in Texas The Black Seminoles, based in Fort Clark and Camp Del Rio, were freed and runaway slaves who had served for several years with Civil War veteran John L. Bullis as their lieutenant. Their tenure in the US Military...
Del Rio Trailblazer Sidney Blanks Sr., a true Del Rio Trailblazer Sidney (Sid) Blanks was the grandson of the Black Seminole Freedom Fighter Sampson July. Sid’s mother, Leona, is Sampson’s daughter. Sid’s father, Roscoe, was the original plumbing engineer of the San...
Launchpad from the Border Del Rio native Crystal McBrady with Brother Joe, a longtime Del Rio pastor, at Sidney Blanks’s celebration of life in Sidney Blanks Park Del Rio has long served as a launchpad for people who have been connected to the region. Many have made...
John Horse At left, Orr’s 1848 engraving of John Horse for Lt. John Sprague’s The Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Florida war. At right, Orr’s engraving for Joshua Giddings’ 1858 history, The Exiles of Florida. Few Americans know his...
