Five Points Market

08/30/2026

Help me wish our little cowgirl Spanky a happy birthday !

It’s been just us for so many years—standing together, working together, loving each other through every hard season and every blessing.

But somehow, along the way, more people keep showing up. Friends, family, neighbors, and folks whose lives you’ve touched come forward to support us, encourage us, and remind us that we’re never truly alone.

That kind of love is a blessing.

Spanky, you have spent so much of your life giving to others, and today it’s beautiful to see that love coming back to you.

Amen. And happy birthday, Spanky. We love you. ❤️

08/29/2026

08/29/2026

Good morning

08/29/2026

🔮 KORAN THE MYSTIC — A MASTER OF MIND & MYSTERY

Long before television psychics and modern mentalists became household entertainment, performers like Koran the Mystic fascinated audiences with demonstrations of apparent mind reading, prediction, intuition, and psychological mystery.

Koran belonged to that old-school world of stage mysticism where a performer could walk onto a stage with little more than a suit, a deck of cards, a few slips of paper, and complete command of an audience’s attention.

What made performers of that era so compelling wasn’t just the trick itself. It was the atmosphere.

They blurred the line between magic, mentalism, suggestion, psychology and the unexplained. The best of them rarely claimed too much. Instead, they left the audience asking one simple question:

“How in the world did he know that?”

Koran became particularly respected among magicians and mentalists for routines involving predictions and apparently impossible knowledge. His methods influenced generations of performers who followed.

It was a different kind of entertainment — slower, more mysterious and built almost entirely upon personality, timing and the ability to make an audience believe, even if only for a few minutes, that perhaps the human mind could reach farther than we understand.

That old world of mystics, radio personalities, fortune tellers, hypnotists and traveling performers is an interesting piece of 20th-century popular culture that deserves to be remembered.

Sometimes the greatest trick wasn’t making something disappear.

It was making an entire room wonder.

🔮 Koran the Mystic

08/29/2026

🌹📻 ROSE DAWN — THE “STAR GIRL” OF BORDER RADIO

Long before Wolfman Jack’s howl came rolling out of Ciudad Acuña, one of the strangest and most successful personalities in border-radio history was already speaking to America from right here on the Rio Grande.

Her name was Rose Dawn.

Her real name was Isabelle Coutant Taylor, and in the 1930s she and her husband, William Perry Taylor—better known on the air as “Koran the Mystic”—came to Del Rio and became fixtures on Dr. John R. Brinkley’s giant Mexican radio station XER, later XERA, across the river in Villa Acuña. (Texas Highways⁠)

Rose Dawn became known as the “Star Girl.”

She talked astrology, destiny, success, happiness and the mysteries of the universe to an audience that stretched far beyond Texas. Remember, these border blasters were no ordinary local radio stations. Their tremendous signals carried voices from the Del Rio–Acuña border deep into the United States.

And Rose Dawn knew how to use that microphone.

Listeners were encouraged to write directly to:

Rose Dawn
Del Rio, Texas

An surviving recording even preserves her telling listeners who were unhappy or searching for success to send away for her material, with the announcer repeating that Del Rio address over the air. (Fresh Air Archive⁠)

Behind the broadcasts grew a remarkable mail-order operation.

Rose Dawn published Modern Astrology, a nationally circulated magazine produced in Del Rio, along with astrological guides, lessons and other material. She and Koran also founded the Mayan Order in Del Rio in 1936, promoting a mixture of self-improvement, mysticism and supposed ancient wisdom to followers across America. (Texas Co-op Power⁠)

The operation apparently became big business.

One Del Rio resident who worked in Rose Dawn’s letter-answering operation later recalled her arriving and asking essentially how much money had come in—the answer sometimes reaching several thousand dollars. Another remembered people from Hollywood visiting the glamorous couple in Del Rio. (Texas Highways⁠)

Think about that for a minute.

During the Great Depression, people sitting beside radios on farms, in little towns and in major American cities were listening to a woman broadcasting from Villa Acuña, Mexico, then putting money into envelopes and mailing it to Del Rio, Texas.

That was the incredible power of border radio.

Rose Dawn belongs to an earlier chapter than the XERF most of us associate with Paul Kallinger and Wolfman Jack. Technically her famous broadcasts were on XER/XERA, but those stations occupied the same extraordinary Del Rio–Acuña border-radio tradition from which XERF later emerged.

Before the Wolfman…

before rock ’n’ roll blasted across the desert…

there was the Star Girl talking about the stars.

And once again, little old Del Rio found itself connected to millions of people across America.

Rose Dawn — astrologer, radio personality, publisher, entrepreneur and one of the strangest characters ever to call Del Rio home.

08/29/2026

🐊🐟 THE ANCIENT GIANTS OF AMISTAD — ALLIGATOR GAR OF THE RIO GRANDE

Folks around Del Rio know there are some mighty big fish swimming beneath the surface of Lake Amistad and the Rio Grande, but few are as impressive—or as ancient—as the alligator gar.

Texas Parks & Wildlife confirms that alligator gar occur in the middle and lower Rio Grande, including Lake Amistad. Amistad itself sits directly on the Rio Grande about 12 miles northwest of Del Rio, giving these giant fish plenty of deep water, river channels and backwater habitat to call home.

These aren’t some recently introduced fish, either. The alligator gar belongs to an ancient lineage stretching back more than 200 million years. They are Texas’ largest freshwater fish and can grow to more than eight feet long and over 300 pounds. A seven-foot gar may already be around 40 years old.

And Amistad has produced some absolute monsters.

According to current Texas Parks & Wildlife records, the Lake Amistad all-tackle record alligator gar weighed 235 pounds and measured 95 inches—just under eight feet long. Darren Carr took that fish by spear gun on August 3, 2018. An earlier Amistad record listed a 214.5-pound, 89.5-inch fish caught in 2005.

Think about that the next time you’re looking across Amistad at sunset: somewhere underneath that water could be a fish nearly eight feet long, possibly older than some of the fishermen trying to catch it.

Despite their intimidating appearance and that mouth full of teeth, alligator gar aren’t the man-eating monsters old stories sometimes made them out to be. They’re important predators in the ecosystem, feeding largely on fish such as buffalo, carp and shad and helping maintain healthy aquatic populations.

For generations along the border, gar have been part of life on the Rio Grande. Some old-timers considered them “rough fish.” Today we understand them differently—as one of the great native animals of Texas and a living connection to a world that existed millions of years before Del Rio, before Amistad Dam, and long before people ever settled along these waters.

The Rio Grande has always had its giants.
Some of them are still swimming right below us.

Del Rio Historical Preservation Project

08/29/2026

📍 DEL RIO POPULATION — FROM FOUNDING TO NOW

Del Rio has come a long way from its early days along San Felipe Creek.

The community that would become Del Rio was founded in 1868, and by 1880 the population was recorded at only about 50 people. Just ten years later, by 1890, that number had grown to roughly 2,000. (tshaonline.org⁠)

For much of its early history, growth was steady rather than explosive. But by the late 20th century, Del Rio had become a true regional center for the borderlands of Southwest Texas.

📊 A few population milestones:

1880 — about 50
1890 — about 2,000
1990 — 30,705
2000 — 33,867
2010 — 35,591
2020 — 34,673
2025 estimate — 34,496

The Handbook of Texas documents Del Rio’s rise from 50 residents in 1880 to 2,000 in 1890, then to more than 30,000 by 1990. (tshaonline.org⁠)

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Del Rio reached 35,591 residents in the 2010 Census, followed by 34,673 in 2020. The latest Census estimate available for July 1, 2025 is 34,496. (census.gov⁠)

That means the highest official census count shown here was 2010.

But population numbers only tell part of the story.

Del Rio grew because of the springs and San Felipe Creek, ranching, agriculture, the railroad, military activity, international trade, Laughlin Air Force Base, and generations of families who made this place home.

From a tiny settlement beside the water to a modern border city of roughly 34,500 people, Del Rio’s growth tells the story of more than a century and a half of change.

And through all that change, San Felipe Creek is still flowing right through the heart of our history.

— Rick Martinez
Del Rio Historical Preservation Project

08/29/2026

🇨🇱 TODAY IN TEXAS HISTORY — AUGUST 28 🇨🇱

Texas history stretches back long before statehood, and August 28 has witnessed several chapters worth remembering.

📜 1767 — THE “RED CAPTAIN” TAKES COMMAND

On August 28, 1767, Hugo Oconór became the ad interim governor of Spanish Texas.

Oconór was an Irish-born officer serving the Spanish Crown whose red hair reportedly earned him the nickname “The Red Captain.” During his time in Texas, he worked to strengthen San Antonio’s defenses, restore order on the northern frontier, and deal with continuing Apache raids.

His career is another reminder that early Texas was already an international crossroads of Spanish, Irish, Mexican, Indigenous and frontier cultures generations before the Texas Revolution. (Texas State Historical Association⁠)

🐐 1828 — MARÍA CALVILLO DEFENDS HER TEXAS RANCH

On this date in 1828, María Calvillo formally petitioned the Mexican government for title to her family’s Rancho de las Cabras, near present-day Wilson County.

Calvillo was born in San Antonio in 1765 and eventually controlled one of the historic ranch properties associated with Mission Espada. Her story provides an important glimpse into the Hispanic ranching families—and especially the women—who owned and managed Texas land long before the arrival of many later Anglo-American settlers. (Texas State Historical Association⁠)

🌾 1902 — A NATIONAL FARMERS’ MOVEMENT BEGINS IN TEXAS

On August 28, 1902, Newt Gresham and nine other men organized the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America in Rains County.

The organization became what we know today as the National Farmers Union.

Its founders wanted farmers to cooperate economically and present a stronger voice when dealing with markets, transportation, credit and government policy. What started among a handful of Texans eventually became a national agricultural organization. (Texas State Historical Association⁠)

⚓ 1945 — TEXAS SUBMARINE COMMANDER RECEIVES THE MEDAL OF HONOR

On August 28, 1945, Edwina Dealey accepted the Medal of Honor awarded posthumously to her husband, Dallas-born Navy Commander Samuel David Dealey.

Dealey commanded the submarine USS Harder during World War II and became one of America’s most successful submarine commanders in the Pacific.

During his combat patrols, Dealey and the Harder were officially credited with sinking numerous enemy vessels. Commander Dealey and his crew were lost after the submarine was fatally attacked off the Philippines in August 1944.

His Medal of Honor recognized extraordinary courage and aggressive leadership in combat. (Texas State Historical Association⁠)

From Spanish governors and early Tejano ranchers to Texas farmers and a Dallas-born submarine commander, August 28 reminds us just how many different stories make up the history of Texas.

And somewhere in nearly every chapter, you find Texans trying to protect their land, their families, their communities—or their country.

That’s Texas history.

— Rick Martinez
Del Rio Historical Preservation Project

08/29/2026

Today Spanky and I had the privilege of sitting down with Mr. Armando Ramirez Jr. and his delightful wife, and the longer we visited, the more remarkable his career became.

Mr. Ramirez began his law-enforcement career right here in Del Rio.

Publicly documented professional records identify him as a detective and Narcotics Task Force commander with the Del Rio Police Department before he entered federal service with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. (ContactOut⁠)

As he talked about those early DRPD years, I immediately asked him if he knew my uncle, former Del Rio Police Lieutenant Michael Burch.

His answer came without hesitation.

“He was my training officer.”

That one sentence brought everything right back home.

Law enforcement is a small, loyal and close-knit community. Spend enough shifts together, answer enough calls together and depend on one another when things get rough, and you don’t forget a fella.

From Del Rio, Mr. Ramirez went on to build a federal career that reached far beyond our little corner of West Texas.

His DEA service included domestic and international assignments, work as a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent, service as a Staff Coordinator at DEA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and ultimately command responsibility as a Resident Agent in Charge. His publicly available career record lists his DEA retirement date as June 6, 2014. (ContactOut⁠)

And this wasn’t just an administrative career.

A 1997 federal appellate case identifies DEA Agent Armando Ramirez Jr. working undercover in Laredo, negotiating the purchase of hundreds of pounds of ma*****na as part of a federal narcotics investigation. The operation involved repeated face-to-face meetings, negotiations over price and quantity, and the use of a vehicle in the planned transaction. (Fifth Circuit Court⁠)

Years later, Mr. Ramirez was documented back along this stretch of the border as DEA Resident Agent in Charge.

In 2011, contemporary reporting shows him representing the DEA during a two-year multi-agency cocaine-trafficking investigation in Brackettville, where he confirmed that additional arrests were expected as the investigation continued. (Texas Tech University Newspapers⁠)

His responsibilities also stretched beyond the traditional image of narcotics enforcement.

Under his leadership, DEA operations involving the Eagle Pass Resident Office and the Del Rio Post of Duty worked with communities in Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Uvalde and Brackettville on prescription-drug take-back programs. One 2011 effort collected 168.5 pounds of unwanted medication across the region, including 86.5 pounds right here in Del Rio. (Texas Tech University Newspapers⁠)

That kind of work shows just how broad federal drug enforcement really is. It isn’t always undercover deals and large seizures. Sometimes it is preventing pills from reaching young people, keeping dangerous drugs out of the illicit market, working with sheriffs and police chiefs, and helping communities handle problems before they become bigger ones.

During our visit, Mr. Ramirez also discussed some of the locations to which his career took him, but he did so in intentionally broad terms.

Enough to understand the scope of the work.

Never enough to compromise an operation, a method, a person or sensitive information.

That struck me immediately.

Even years later, the discipline was still there.

That is the kind of thoughtfulness you would expect from somebody who spent years supervising federal agents and handling information where knowing what not to say can be just as important as knowing what to say.

Our conversation eventually moved into subjects most folks never really encounter — federal intelligence organizations, military intelligence, naval intelligence, compartmented information and the secure environments used to handle sensitive material.

My own familiarity with some of that world seemed to surprise Mr. Ramirez, and before long the conversation had moved well beyond what most folks expect during an afternoon visit.

Not too many of us have conversations where the term SCIF comes up naturally.

Nothing classified was discussed, and nothing operational was revealed.

It was simply the recognition between two people that there is an entire side of government and national-security service most Americans rarely see, and for good reason.

Mr. Ramirez’s publicly available record simply describes his federal service as including “Domestic and International assignments.” He was understandably just as careful in person. (LinkedIn⁠)

And that may have impressed me as much as anything else.

A long career in law enforcement teaches a person when to talk.

A career at that level teaches you when not to.

After retiring from DEA, Mr. Ramirez continued investigative public service. Professional records identify later work with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Office of Inspector General, and his current professional profile reflects work connected to the Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. (ContactOut⁠)

So when you look at the whole career, the journey is pretty remarkable:

Del Rio Police Department.

Narcotics investigator.

Task Force commander.

DEA Special Agent.

Undercover federal investigations.

Domestic and international assignments.

Supervisory Special Agent.

DEA Headquarters in Washington.

Resident Agent in Charge.

And later, continued service as a state investigator.

Yet after all those years, all those assignments and all those titles, one of the first connections we made today came back to an old Del Rio policeman.

“My training officer.”

That tells you something about law enforcement.

The badges change.

The assignments change.

The years roll by.

But you remember the people who taught you, rode beside you and helped shape the officer you became.

It was truly a privilege for Spanky and me to meet Mr. Ramirez and his wife today.

Del Rio has produced some extraordinary people over the years.

Armando Ramirez Jr. is certainly one of them.

Some stories can be told completely.

Some can only be told around the edges.

And sometimes, the man who understands the difference has already told you a whole lot about himself.



One ☝️ Del Rio