[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 30, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING PEDRO HUIIZAR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PETE P. GALLEGO

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 30, 2014

  Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the legacy of Pedro 
Huiizar. A surveyor by trade, his family roots and history date to the 
1700s when accuracy in surveying depended on personal skill--not 
technology. Pedro was born in 1740. As a young man, he was trained as a 
sculptor in Spain and then sailed to the New World to seek his fortune.
  Thirty-eight years later, he married his first love, Mariia de la 
Trinidad Henriques. Historical records are somewhat hazy, but we know 
they had at least four children: three boys and a daughter. Sadly, in 
an event lost to history, Mariia died. Pedro would later remarry to 
Mariia Gertrudis Martinez in 1798.
  In April 1793, Pedro was appointed surveyor when the San Antonio de 
Valero Mission--the mission we now know as The Alamo--was secularized. 
He was also present when Governor Manuel Munnoz distributed lands to 23 
adult Indians. He too received a small piece of land for his service. 
Pedro went on to survey the lands at the missions San Francisco de 
Espada, San Juan Capistrano, San Josee and San Miguel de Aguayo, and 
Nuestra Sennora de la Puriisima Concepcioon de Acunna.
  Around 1790, Pedro was commissioned by Governor Manuel Munnoz to draw 
the plans for reconstruction of the San Antonio de Beexar Presidio. 
Shortly after, on March 4, 1791, Pedro was sent to La Bahia to report 
on the feasibility of irrigation for lands around Nuestra Sennora de 
Loreto Presidio, but later concluded that the efforts would be too 
costly.
  Through his profession as a surveyor, Pedro Huiizar played an 
important role by surveying the various missions and the presidios of 
San Antonio de Beexar. His reputation for honesty and sound judgment 
earned the trust of his community and made others call upon him when a 
reliable assessment or survey was required.
  After many years of service, Pedro Huiizar was appointed a justicia 
at San Josee in 1794 by Governor Munnoz. Later, in 1796, he was 
appointed justicia at Concepcioon, also by Governor Munnoz. In that 
position, he oversaw the temporal affairs of the Native American 
population.
  Today, Pedro is most known as the probable designer or sculptor of 
the window of the sacristy at San Jose Mission. No documents exist to 
prove he was the sculptor, but it is believed he was the artist in 
charge of both the rose window and the faccade. There are several 
variations of the legend concerning Pedro's connection with the rose 
window. Some claim that the window was dedicated to Saint Rose of Lima, 
but there are no roses in the window, only figs. The Huiizar family 
maintains that the window was dedicated to Rosa, a love lost on the 
journey to the New World.
  Today, on this floor, I honor the life and legacy of Pedro Huiizar. I 
also honor his descendants--many of whom even today still live in the 
San Antonio area and in the area of the San Antonio missions.

                          ____________________