𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧!!!!! 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟 𝗞𝗜𝗗𝗦 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟 𝗜𝗡 𝟭𝟵𝟭𝟵!!!

 submitted by Rene Torres

The following is a reprint of a Brownsville Herald posting of 1919:

Few incidents during the Lower Rio Grande Valley's campaign for deep water have had the romantic color of the famed S.O.S. campaign, in which school children of the section turned in their pennies to aid in raising a fund to assure the channel work in 1919.

This unusual campaign was conceived at a meeting of four men in the old Manhattan Cafe on Elizabeth Street.

Of the four men two are dead. They were Dave O’Brien, and E. S. Brodix. 

The other two are Billy Burnett, present postmaster of the city and a long associate of O'Brien and Jesse Dennett, motor car dealer.

Cobolini Active Burnett recently opened his file to The Herald and revealed many interesting incidents of the S. O. S. campaign and other events of port development in those days.

These clippings from The Herald and letters show that Valley people had been trying to interest the United States army engineers in the port possibilities of the section since 1908. 

Commodore Louis Cobolini, who as secretary of the chamber of commerce before 1919 had made several trips to Washington on the matter, was one of the most active during those days, with the Browne Estate, headed by Albert Browne, helping in the financing of the trips.

Frank Rabb was another contributor and worker for the port, and he, along with Albert Browne, Commodore Cobolini, and Dave O'Brien made one trip to Washington to appear before the board of army engineers.

Albert Browne purchased the Rio Grande railroad, later selling it to Dave O'Brien, and the struggle to make a standard gauge road out of this then narrow-gauge road dramatic one, running concurrently with the drive to raise $124,000 to pay for dredging of the inner channel.

Most of that channel, leading to the pier east of Port Isabel, was dredged but of Port Isabel, was dredged, but lack of maintenance caused it to fill up.

The campaigns in those days were filled with heartaches and at times with cheering victories.

As a result of the work of those Brownsville and other Valley people the Brazos-Santiago project came to be recognized as a project by the army engineers, who in 1926 built the old jetties out 1600 feet into the ocean.

Since then, the project has been carried on to the present brilliant success as a 25-foot-deep water port that will accommodate the vessels of the world.

In Burnett's file telling of the struggle to raise funds in those days are many interesting letters, telegrams, and clippings about the port.

There are telegrams from Senator Morris Sheppard telling of his efforts, of conferences with Major Schley, then district engineer, about dredging the outer channel.

One interesting feature is a sheet showing the quotas assigned to Valley towns in raising the $124,000 fund for dredging of the inner channel.

The quotas were: Brownsville, $71,415; San Benito $10,000, Harlingen $7,750, Lyford$1500, Raymondville $2500, La Feria $750, Mercedes $5500, Donna $5000, Alamo

$3125, Edinburg $2000, Pharr $2500, San Juan $2000, McAllen $5100, Mission $3150, Rio Grande City $1710.

Edinburg, having a smaller quota than Alamo, Pharr or Raymondville gives a comparative idea of the sizes then.

The S. O. S. buttons and ribbons, as well as the blank receipts are included in thefile, which it followed carefully tells much of the story of the Valley’s struggle for deep water from 1919 to 1926.

After the latter date events began forming which resulted in the Brownsville

Navigation district and the port project as it is today.

Note: S.O.S. …Save our Seaport