Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Miraflores: an overview of time, an insight into a man

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 30; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14601170903335508

1943-2186

William S. Hoar,

Abstract Acknowledgements A significant amount of material that is contained in this article came from interviews with the grandson of Aureliano Urrutia, Aureliano A. ‘Bud’ Urrutia. Not only is Bud Urrutia his grandfather's namesake, but he also followed in his footsteps and became a noted and respected San Antonio surgeon. Without Dr Bud Urrutia's insights and assistance, this article would not have been possible. I therefore wish to recognize Bud and thank him most heartily for his inestimable help. I also wish to voice my appreciation to Patsy Pittman Light, author of Capturing Nature: The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodríguez (Texas A&M University Press, 2008), for all her valuable contributions to this paper. I want to thank her particularly for the help she gave me in better understanding the history of the Mission Concepcion. Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA Notes 1. Sometime between 1733 and 1734 Philip V of Spain (1683–1746) granted lands to the city of San Antonio. Miraflores, which probably was an island at that time, was part of the land grant. One hundred twenty years later (c. 1853) the city sold the property to one August Liecke. In 1917 the land was resold to Guillermo A. and Margarita Mecado de Alonso. Only four years later (1921) what was to become a piece of property for relaxation and entertainment — i.e. Miraflores — was purchased by Dr Aureliano Urrutia. Since 1962 the property has changed hands four more times. In 1962 Urrutia sold it to the USA Automobile Association (USAA), a diversified insurance and financial services company founded in Texas in 1922. The second recent sale occurred in 1974, when the USAA tendered the property to the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company to construct an office building on Broadway Street and a park behind (Dr Urrutia's Miraflores garden) the company called Pioneer Park. Next, the property (only the western Pioneer Park/Miraflores grounds, not the eastern section) was deeded by Southwestern Bell as a gift to the University of the Incarnate Word (4301 Broadway Street, San Antonio, TX). This process began in 2000 and was concluded the following year. Finally, in March of 2006, Miraflores was sold back to the city of San Antonio. As of this publication, there are plans to excavate and restore Miraflores and physically connect it to Brackenridge Park to the west by a faux bois bridge that may be done by Carlos Cortés of San Antonio, Texas. (Most of this information comes from the following three sources: [1] Paula Allen, ‘Once a Private Park, Sculpture Garden to Join Brackenridge’, San Antonio Express-News 1 October 2006; [2] Amy Dorsett, ‘Legal Tug-of-War May Be Played Out on Tiny Park’, San Antonio Express-News 3 August 2002: 1A & 12A; and [3]I. Waynne Cox's ‘Historical and Archival Documentation for Pioneer Park, Bexar County, San Antonio, Texas’, Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, Archaeological Survey Report, No. 196, 1990.) 2. Patsy Pittman Light and Maria Watson Pfeiffer, an application (‘Miraflores Park, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas’) submitted to the USA Department of the Interior, National Park Service: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, October 1990, sec. 7, p. 5. 3. Francisco de la Barra was the interim president of Mexico from 25 May to 6 November 1911, and Francisco Ignacio Madero was president from 7 November 1911 to 18 February 1913, at which time Victoriano Huerta became president. 4. This occurred in 1921, when the property was purchased from Guillermo A. and Margarita Mecado de Alonso. 5. From roughly 1930 to 1962, when the property was sold to the USA Automobile Association (USAA), an aura of intimacy was established by the trees, bushes, and flowers that grew on the grounds of Miraflores. In other words, this was the perfect place for thought and meditation. 6. Cristina Urrutia Martinez, ‘Aureliano Urrutia: Transito medico-quirurgico, incursion politica en 1913 y exilio en Texas’, diss., Universidad de Guadalajara, 2006, 48. David Uhler, ‘Gate Inches Its Way to Art Museum’, San Antonio Express-News, 22 September 1998: 1B. 7. Until the first electric train was introduced in 1908, the major mode of transport from the outskirts of Mexico City and the city itself were the trajineras. Interestingly, this train service still exists today and is called el tren ligero, or the ‘light train’. 8. After his election in 1934, Lázaro Cárdenas refused to live in Chapultepec Castle and had ‘The Pines’ (Los Pinos; this structure is still the official residence of the presidents of Mexico) built. During the next to last year of Cárdenas’ administration — i.e. 1939 — Chapultepec Castle became the location of the National Museum of History. 9. Happily, as this article is being written, work is underway by the city of San Antonio and other interested parties to restore the garden to its original state and to connect it physically to nearby Brackenridge Park so the general public can one day enjoy it. (See also footnote 1.) 10. For the moment, there seems to be no documentation that confirms the commencement of this hospital. However, its completion date is known. Because of a documented record of a dedication ceremony and fiesta that was organized for Francisco Leon de la Barra, the completion of the hospital can be dated to September 1911 (Sanatoria ‘Urrutia’, Coyoacán,D. F.: Sr. Dr Aureliano Urrutia y Sra. Luz F. de Urrutia, Propietarios y Fundadores [Mexico: Bouligny & Schmidt Sucs., 1911] 59). 11. Faux bois is a sculpture technique that involves the formation of a steel armature over which is placed a concrete mixture that is further molded and incised to look like wood and other textured forms. 12. The fountain was demolished by the University of the Incarnate Word in 2001. It is unclear why the university razed the fountain. The university officially claims that the fountain was a safety risk; they say it was potentially dangerous to people who were using what they then called Alumni Park — i.e. the Miraflores property (Amy Dorsett, ‘Legal Tug-of-War May Be Played Out on Tiny Park’, San Antonio Express-News 3 August 2002: 1A & 12A). Others believe the university's intension was ultimately to establish a parking lot on the site of Miraflores. 13. Although Cristina Urrutia Martinez does not address the character and appearance of the buildings that surrounded the youthful Aureliano Urrutia, she does indicate that the boy grew up in a poor working-class community. (Martinez, ‘Aureliano Urrutia’, p. 47.) 14. The name Quinta Maria (the name actually appears on the structure) roughly translates as the ‘Manor House of Maria’. However, it is not known at this time to whom the name Maria refers. Dr Aureliano Urrutia had two children named Maria, but their names were in combination with Luisa (Maria Luisa) and Ana (Ana Maria). There is also a possibility that the name Maria refers to the Virgin Mary. If this is the case, then it is somewhat supported by the fact that a Luca della Robbia-like medallion is to be found prominently displayed on the north side of the building (see figure 11). For the moment, whether the name of the building refers to one of the daughters, the Virgin Mary, or to someone else remains to be discovered. 15. After the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company took control of Miraflores in 1974, the initial plans were to tear down the Quinta Maria. However, in the early 1980s the company decided to restore the building and use it either as a museum or a meeting room for Bell employees (see Anna Marie Pena, ‘Bell Plans to Restore Dr Urrutia's Cottage’, San Antonio Light, 18 December 1981). 16. Martinez, ‘Aureliano Urrutia’, p. 47. 17. RichardF. Townsend, The Aztecs (London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 2000), p. 158. 18. ‘Coyolxauhqui (sculpture)’, Smithsonian Institution: Art Inventories Catalog, (http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?term = Lopez%2C+Sanchez&profile = ariall&index = .AW&x = 13&y = 8#focus), verified 3 September 2008. 19. ‘Legend of the sun flechador’, AYU Foundation: Instituto para del Desarrollo de la Mixteca AC, (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u= http://www. fundacionayu.org/idm/Leyenda-del-flechador-del-sol&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=7&ct=result& prev=/search%3Fq%3Del%2Bflechador%2Bdel%2 Bcielo%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN), verified 3 September 2008. 20. The Miraflores Cuauhtémoc is made of concrete and measures approximately 5.5′ high. It sits on a 3′ concrete base. 21. Pinacoteca del Dr Aureliano Urrutia (San Antonio, Texas: Artes Graficas, 1940), p. 19. 22. The fact that the Sanchez's Cuauhtémoc wears a feathered headdress, a loincloth, sandals, and a pair of decorative leg bracelets gives the figure an increased amount of credibility. 23. The fact that Dr Aureliano Urrutia purchased the property in 1921 and already had a sculpture dated to 1921 (i.e.L. L. Sanchez's Cuauhtémoc) placed on the property certainly suggests that the artistic development of Miraflores began that same year. 24. (1) Refugio Urrutia, ed., Bodas de Oro del Doctor Aureliano Urrutia (San Antonio, Texas: Artes Graficas, 1946), p. 208, and Pinacoteca del Dr Aureliano Urrutia (San Antonio, Texas: Artes Graficas, 1940), p. 102. (2) This is possible, for the palace of Hernán Cortés was still in existence during the years Aureliano Urrutia spent in Mexico City at the end of the nineteenth century. The Palacio de Cortés, built between 1522 and 1535, exists today as well. It is located on the Plaza de Armes in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and houses the Museo Cuauhnáhuac. On display in the palace are exhibits that highlight the history and cultures of Mexico, as well as a number of murals by Diego Rivera. Unfortunately, the author has not visited the palace, and therefore cannot testify to the existence or style of the tiles that may still remain there. 25. Talavera refers to a form of painted pottery that originated in Talavera de la Reina in Spain, 70 miles southwest of Madrid. In Spain, this type of pottery goes by the name majolica. The online encyclopedia Wikipedia describes majolica pottery this way: an Italian Renaissance ceramic form ‘with an opaque, white glaze containing tin oxide, usually painted in several colors’. (‘Majolica’, Wikipedia, [http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Majolica], verified 4 September 2008.) 26. Repeated on all four of the tile panels are two other inscriptions which read respectively ‘Proyecto Marcelo Izaguirre, Civil Engineer, Mexico City’ (in a small medallion on the left) and ‘Casa Rabell, 14 Juarez Avenue, Mexico City’ (in a small medallion on the right). These inscriptions, of course, simply record the designer of the gateway and therefore have no relationship to its meaning and significance. 27. Excellent early photographs of this bench can be found in the Pinacoteca, No. 37 and in the archives of the Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas. 28. Rick Codina, ‘Miraflores Retains Spell of History Despite Weathering of Monuments’, San Antonio News-Express, 26 June 1971: 13A. These same spearheads can be see on the grounds of the Sanatorio ‘Urrutia’ at Coyoacán, near (south) Mexico City. 29. ‘Wine 101’, Professional Friends of Wine, (http://www.winepros.org/wine101/history.htm), verified 5 September 2008. 30. Two other examples of Dr Aureliano Urrutia's Roman Catholic piety can be seen in the chapel he had built on the grounds of the Sanatorio ‘Urrutia’ at Coyoacán and a devotional painting (a replica of ‘The Descent from the Cross’ by the fifteenth-century Northern Renaissance painter Rogier van der Weyden) he had placed in the reception area of his clinic on N. Laredo Street in downtown San Antonio. 31. This person may have been using the Pinacoteca (p. 95), where the date 1717 (1716 is the proper date) is used. 32. Kay Dyer, ‘Garden Is All That Remains of Miraflores, Urrutia Estate’. Though this article has no further identification (it may date to 20 December 1971), a copy of it can be found in the archives of the San Antonio Conservation Society, 107 King William Street, San Antonio, TX 78204. 33. ‘Biography of Captain José de Urrutia’, GeneaBios: Biographies for Genealogy, (http://www.geneabios.com/urrutia.htm), verified 9 September 2008. 34. ‘His (Dón Domingo Terán de los Ríos’) instructions for his Texas venture were prepared by a Junta de Hacienda acting under suggestions by Damián Massanet, who was in charge of missionary activities. Terán was instructed to establish seven missions among the Tejas, to investigate rumors of foreign settlements on the coast, and to keep records of geography, natives, and products'. (‘Domingo Terán de los Ríos’, The Handbook of Texas Online, [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/fte13_print.html], verified 5 September 2008.) 35. Patsy Pittman Light, Capturing Nature: The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodríguez (Texas A&M University Press, 2008). 36. If the stele is authentic, it could have been fashioned at either the Angelina River Valley location or the Mission Concepcion south of San Antonio. Though the exact function of an authentic stele dated to 1716 cannot be determined, it most likely would have been either a cornerstone or a stand-alone commemorative plaque for a First Mass. Though these are simple and logical explanations for the existence of a 1716 Stele, a few problems do exist. For example, there is no evidence that the Angelina River Valley mission reached a point where it would have needed a cornerstone (the mission was only there from 1716 to 1719). In addition, there has to be taken into consideration the long journey (approximated 300 miles by footpath) that would have been involved in transporting a sizeable cornerstone/commemorative plaque from the Angelina River Valley to San Antonio. Additional problems arise in regards to the new Mission Concepcion near the San Antonio River. If the 1716 Stele was crafted at the present-day Mission Concepcion, then it would not have been a cornerstone because the mission was not established until 1731. However, it could have been etched and set up as a commemorative plaque, remembering and referencing the parent mission in the Angelina River Valley. So, it is conceivable that an authentic 1716 Stele did exist, but its early journey or later-date formation remains problematic. Both scenarios seem too farfetched to have resulted in the stele being accidentally discovered by some workers who were preparing an area of the garden for a fountain (Kay Dyer, ‘Garden Is All That Remains of Miraflores, Urrutia Estate’, 20 December 1971 [?]). 37. Unfortunately, Archbishop José H. Gomez's online publication Today's Catholic ([http://www.satodayscatholic.com/default.aspx], verified 5 September 2008) has taken off line all its archives before 2004. Therefore, the following URL that relates to the1987 notation mentioned in this paper is no longer electronically accessible: http://www.satodayscatholic. com/Archives/Gomez%20archives/2007%20Gomez %20articles/083107.htm, accessed during the fall of 2007. 38. ‘Damián Massanet’, The Handbook of Texas Online, (http://www.tshaonline. org/handbook/online/ articles/MM/fma71_print.html), verified 5 September 2008. 39. San Antonio Water Historically, (http://www.saws. org/education/h2o_ university/teachers/Know_ H2O/Historical_Section.pdf), 23 (pdf), verified 5 September 2008. 40. For more information on Domingo Ramón, see the following website: ‘Domingo Ramón’, The Handbook of Texas Online, (http://www.tshaonline.org/hand book/online/articles/RR/fra24.html), verified 5 September 2008. 41. Unfortunately, the following URL has been taken off line: (http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/RiverwalkHistory/index.asp), accessed during the fall of 2007. 42. But something less than nine; the number has to be less than nine because some of the friars were from Zacatecas, approximately 250 miles NNW of Querétaro. 43. ‘Diocese of San Antonio’, New Advent: Encyclopedia, (http://www. newadvent.org/cathen/13424b.htm), verified 5 September 2008. 44. The Viceroy of New Spain at this time was Baltasar de Zúñiga y Guzmán, duque de Arión y marqués de Valero (1658–1727), who served at the pleasure of King Philip of Spain (r. 1700–1746). 45. For more information on Father Olivares, see the following: ‘Antonio de san Buenaventura Y Olivares’, The Handbook of Texas Online, (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/OO/fol4.html), verified 5 September 2008. 46. San Antonio Water Historically, (http://www.saws.org/education/h2o_ university/teachers/Know_H2O/ Historical_Section.pdf), 23 (pdf), verified 5 September 2008. 47. If Damián Massanet was in his 20s in the 1680s, he would have been in his 50s in 1718. In this regard, it should be noted that the New Advent: Encyclopedia mentions Father Antonio Margil de Jesús as the Father Superior of the group: ‘Diocese of San Antonio’, New Advent: Encyclopedia, (http://www. newadvent.org/cathen/13424b.htm), verified 5 September 2008. 48. Dorsett, 3 August 2002: 12A. 49. Uhler, 22 September 1998: 1B. 50. A San Antonio Museum of Art plaque records that the Broadway Arch was done by Dionicio Rodríguez (1891–1955). The plaque is on a wall just south of the arch. The plaque also records that the arch was a gift of Southwestern Bell and was moved to the SAMA through a grant from the Stevens Foundation. 51. In a Wikipedia article [http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Talavera_(pottery)] on Talavera pottery it says: ‘Many people consider Puebla, Mexico the home of Mexican Talavera because of the first regulations and standards for determining uniformity and excellence of the traditional Mexican Talavera. These locations that see the regulations are met are called “fabricas”, and have only a few left in Mexico. The “certified fabrica” in Puebla, is known as Uriarte Talavera, which was founded by Sr. Don Dimas Uriarte in 1824.’ 52. Donald Demarest, ‘Guadalupe Cult in the Lives of Mexicans’, A Handbook on Guadalupe, ed. Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (Waite Park, MN: Park Press), p. 114. 53. For a list of a number of Roman Catholic and indigenous Mexican interpretations of the iconography of the Virgin of Guadalupe, see the following website: ‘The Image of Our Lady’, The Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, (http://www.ourladyofguadalupe.org/ologimage.htm), verified 6 September 2008. 54. George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (New York: Galaxy Book, 1966), p. 21. 55. Other peripheral indications of Dr Aureliano Urrutia's religiosity include the following: (1) the chapel that was part of the Sanatorio ‘Urrutia’ complex (see figure 7) and (2) the replica of Rogier van der Weyden's ‘The Descent from the Cross’ in the reception area of the doctor's San Antonio clinic. 56. No records or cornerstone remain to indicate when The Chapel was finished. However, like many other objects on the grounds, it probably dates to the early 1930s. Neither is it recorded when the structure was razed, but this may have occurred shortly after the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) purchased the property in 1962 or when the grounds were acquired by the Southwestern Bell Company in 1974. 57. The María Luisa referred to here is Dr Aureliano Urrutia's tenth child by his wife Luz Fernández. This was a common practice of Dr Urrutia. For example, at the Sanatorio ‘Urrutia’ one vestibule was named after his father Pedro, a grand hallway or gallery after his wife Luz, a reflecting pool after his daughter Refugio (sixth child by Luz), a walking path after another daughter Alicia (seventh child by Luz), etc. 58. Dr Aureliano Urrutia was involved in many late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century political events and activities, and English-language newspapers — especially those of San Antonio — are full of articles on them. However, the best and most accurate article read by this author appeared in a 1972 issue of the San Antonio Express-News (Bill Graham, ‘Dr Urrutia: Centenarian’, San Antonio News-Express, 4 June 1972). 59. Interview with Dr John Morrow, Spanish instructor, Northern State University, Aberdeen, SD, 2006. 60. Sanatoria ‘Urrutia’, Coyoacan,D. F.: Sr. Dr Aureliano Urrutia y Sra. Luz F. de Urrutia, Propietarios y Fundadores (Mexico: Bouligny & Schmidt Sucs., 1911), p. 65. 61. This bust is mentioned in an unidentified newspaper article by Kay Dyer entitled ‘Garden is all that remains of Miraflores, Urrutia estate’. Though unidentified, a copy of this article can be found in the archives of the San Antonio Conservation Society, 107 King William Street, San Antonio, TX 78204. 62. If Pedro de Gante was related to King Charles V of Spain (the two were actually born within about fifteen years of each other in the city of Ghent, Belgium [Flanders]), then he, too, would have shared some sort of kinship with the ruling Hapsburg family of Germany (Charles was the son of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, by Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella). This becomes an interesting detail because one of Dr Aureliano Urrutia's most prized possessions was an ‘altar hanging’ that framed the top of a large mirror in a drawing room in the Quinta Urrutia and contained a central medallion that was the coat of arms of the House of Hapsburg (Pinacoteca del Dr Aureliano Urrutia, p. 100.) 63. ‘Bartolomé de las Casas’, Wikipedia, (http://en. Wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolome_de_las_Casas), verified 6 September 2008. 64. ‘Mexico’, New Advent: Encyclopedia, (http://www. newadvent.org/cathen/10250b.htm), verified 6 September 2008. 65. Johannes Madey, ‘Petrus van Gent’, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, ed. Verlag Traugott Bautz, (http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/p/petrus_v_gen. shtm), verified 6 September 2008. 66. References to Dr Aureliano Urrutia's overseas travel and fame can be found in the following newspaper articles: David Uhler, ‘Alamo City Remembered: “Voice of San Antonio” Guerra Speaks Volumes in Book’, San Antonio Express-News, 30 May 1999: 4H; David Dreier, ‘Mexico-Born Doctors Once Active in S. A.’, San Antonio Express-News, 18 June 1972: 3I; and Bill Graham, ‘Dr Urrutia: Centenarian’, San Antonio News-Express, 4 June 1972. 67. Bill Graham, ‘Dr Urrutia: Centenarian’, San Antonio News-Express, 4 June 1972. 68. ‘Mexico’, New Advent: Encyclopedia, (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10250b.htm), verified 6 September 2008. 69. Pinacoteca del Dr Aureliano Urrutia, pp. 91–92. 70. ‘Pedro de Gante’, Wikipedia, (http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_de_Gante), verified 6 September 2008. 71. The date of the application's acceptance was given to the author by Dr A. A. Urrutia. However, Dr Aureliano Urrutia's actual induction did not occur until 23 October 1936. 72. The collaborative and separate work of Maria Watson Pfeiffer and Patsy Pittman Light has determined that there are thirty-six objects on the grounds of Miraflores. By its conclusion, this paper will have considered twenty-four of the thirty-six objects. In the order in which they appear in Pfeiffer and Light's 1990 submission to the United State Department of the Interior (see below), the following objects were not included in the present paper: (1) a concrete monument relief; (2) the winged ‘Samothrace’ arrangement; (3) two pairs (counts as two objects) of low, oval-shaped benches; (4) a nondescript concrete bench; (5) a concrete bench with a shell motif; (6) a concrete block with blue-painted motifs; (7) a concrete urn with inset diamonds; (8) a pair (counts as one object) of concrete urns decorated with classical figures; (9) a pair (counts as one object) of ponds with pedestals; (10) Dionicio Rodriguez's ‘stalagmite’ grotto; and (11) a concrete vase with a figure on top. Ms Light's comments on Miraflores can be found in her book entitled Capturing Nature: The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodríguez (Texas A&M University, 2008). A summery of her joint work with Ms Pfeiffer is located in an October 1990 National Register of Historic Places registration form submitted to the USA Department of the Interior, National Park Service. 73. Light, Capturing Nature: The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodríguez, pp. 22–23. 74. The cement replica of ‘Nike of Samothrace’, which is presently on the grounds of Miraflores, is not original to the park either. It, like the palapa bench, was moved when Dr Urrutia's mansion, the Quinta Urrutia, was sold in 1962. Originally, the statue stood above the portal entrance to the mansion. The two lions located on either side of the Nike sculpture once stood on either side of the steps that led up to the portal entrance of the mansion. 75. Martinez, ‘Aureliano Urrutia’. 76. The only true Art Deco piece remaining in the Miraflores garden is a lone lamppost, which is tall, slender, and ends with a spiral motif at the top (see figure 26). 77. To this point, Miraflores has been described as having a total of nine Dionicio Rodríguez faux-bois pieces. If the discussion is limited to extant examples of Rodríguez's work, then this is true. However, there is one more piece that needs to be mentioned. It is the fountain (see figure 7) that once supplied water to Dr Aureliano Urrutia's swimming pool (today only a shallow cavity in the ground immediately south of the Esplanade) and the channels that ran about the Esplanade (see figure 2) and the rest of the grounds. The University of the Incarnate Word (just across Hildebrand Avenue to the north) demolished the fountain (some say because it was falling apart and therefore was deemed dangerous; others suggest the university wanted more parking space, and the fountain was in the way) after it purchased the property from the United Services Automobile Association in 2001. This fountain — sometimes referred to as the ‘Fountain of Youth’ in newspaper articles — is another example of Urrutia's fascination with things that were old and new at the same time. The ‘oldness’ of the fountain was seen its rocky and craggy visual qualities. What was ‘new’ about the fountain laid beneath its faux-bois surface. Here there was found a thoroughly modern engineering feat of electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic elements. 78. The only other known example of bronze work commissioned by Dr Aureliano Urrutia is found at the top of the tiled side of the Broadway Arch. This is a bronze plaque, which bears, in large letters, the words ‘Doctor Urrutia’. 79. David Uhler, ‘Behind the Tile Arch’, San Antonio Express-News, 14 September 1997: G. 80. ‘A Tough Hombre: What was the horrible secret that Dr Aureliano Urrutia carried to his grave?’ Texas Monthly, April 1985, p. 108. 81. Dr A. A. Urrutia interview. 82. In the case of the Urrutia bronze statue, it was a matter of the doctor having a good rapport with Lázaro Cárdenas (Mexican President, 1934–1940) but not with Manuel Ávila Camacho (Mexican President, 1940–1946). The statue was to be delivered to the Cárdenas administration but was not finished until the Camacho administration, which refused to accept it. Some evidence of the camaraderie Aureliano Urrutia had with Lázaro Cárdenas can be found in this quote: ‘In the 1930s, Dr Urrutia was visited by the entire faculty of the school of medicine of Mexico, which urged him to return to his native land and told him President Cardenas would “guarantee” his safety.’ (Bill Graham, ‘Dr Urrutia: Centenarian’, San Antonio News-Express, 4 June 1972.) 83. The years 1913 and 1914 were tumultuous for Aureliano Urrutia. What happened during those two years is nicely summarized by David Uhler (‘Behind the Tile Arch’, San Antonio Express-News, 14 September 1997, Section G) and the author of an article of unknown origin (this article, entitled ‘S.A. Surgeon Is Dead’, must have been done in 1975, which was the year Urrutia died; a copy of this article can be found in the archives of the Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas). Uhler begins the saga by recording that ‘[Francisco] Madero [1873–1913] lasted 13 months before he was killed, allegedly by a group that included Urrutia. The slain president was replaced by Victoriano Huerta, who had supported Diaz. A short time later, Belisario Dominguez, a Mexican senator from Chiapas who had spoken against Huerta, also died after Urrutia reportedly cut out his tongue with a scalpel. Huerta appointed Urrutia minister of government. The doctor went right to work on a wide range of reforms. A story in the San Antonio Light on 21 September 1913, called Urrutia “the Pooh-Bah [a pompous ostentatious official] of the Huerta administration”. “Nominally, he was merely the minister of gobernacion”, the story said. “But in reality, he was the whole thing … ”. Many of Urrutia's reforms were not very popular. He made his biggest blunder, however, by threatening to sever relations between the USA and Mexico unless President Woodrow Wilson recognized the Huerta administration. Wilson responded to Urrutia's ultimatum by sending federal troops to Veracruz. As Huerta's government crumbled, Urrutia fled Mexico City, only to be arrested by [Frederick] Funston [1865–1917] and his soldiers’. The article of unknown origin continues the story by saying, ‘“My father [Aureliano Urrutia] feared for his life”, Mrs Refugio Urrutia recalled, telling the story of the family flight from Mexico on May 14, 1914. “He had learned that President Huerta planned to have him assassinated. We were heading for Veracruz, where we hoped to take a ship and leave Mexico”. … At the time the Urrutias were headed for Veracruz, that area was in control of American troops, who had invaded Mexico under the Wilson Administration. The US soldiers took custody of Urrutia in the tiny town of Tembladeras and brought him before Gen. Frederick Funston, US commander at Veracruz [this is the same Funston who captured Philippine resistance leader Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901 and who, as commander of the Presidio, directed the demolition of certain buildings to create fire-breaks during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake]. “My father told the Americans he no longer was connected with the Huerta regime and that, in fact, he feared for his life. He told them all he wanted to do was leave the country”, Mrs Refugio Urrutia continued. “I was a very little girl at the time, but I remember very well the days we remained at a hotel in Veracruz, awaiting the ship to sail”. … Aboard ship and bound for Galveston, Mrs Urrutia says, “We were treated very well. The captain even gave us his quarters.” … “In the month of May”, he [Aureliano Urrutia, in a commemorative book entitled the Bodas de Oro, 1945] wrote, “I determined to move to Germany. I took passage on the Ypiranga, and began my journey. On May 14, before reaching Veracruz, in a small town name Tembladeras, a military troop train of Americans arrived and I was made a prisoner and taken before Gen. Funston. On May 18, I was told I would be sent to the USA. … The commander of the ship … informed me his government had ordered that I and my family be taken to whatever port I chose in the USA. I chose Galveston, since it was the closest . … the captain told me: You are free to make your home at any place you choose, but only under the condition that you dedicate yourself here to your profession and not return to Mexico. That's the way it happened, and then and there I chose San Antonio, which became my second country.”’ Dr Urrutia arrived in San Antonio in August of 1914. 84. Ignacio Asúnsolo (1890–1965) was born in Mexico and worked there all his life as a professional sculptor. Like Aureliano Urrutia, Asúnsolo played a role in the Mexican Revolution and did some of his advanced studies in Mexico City, namely, at the Academy of San Carlos (interestingly, there is a good chance he was there at the same time Diego Rivera was studying at the school). Between 1919 and 1921 he continued his studies at the Ecolo des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is best known for a form of naturalism that tends to inspire nationalistic and political fervor.