Massacre, Marriage, and Revenge: The Arroyo Runs Red

In April 1846, on the banks of the Arroyo Colorado, the Rogers family was ambushed in one of the Rio Grande Valley’s earliest and bloodiest tragedies. Some called it a raid. Others, a massacre. One man survived—naked, bleeding, his throat cut—and his story would twist through mercy, marriage, and vengeance.

In this debut episode of Echoes of 956, we unravel the Rogers Massacre with vivid, historically grounded storytelling. From Fort Polk’s supply lines to the thornscrub north of Brownsville, from Julia Corona’s act of courage to the whispered legend of “Billy’s mark,” this is more than a roadside marker. It’s a Valley story of blood and survival, terror and mercy, memory and myth.

Where the record is firm, we tell it as fact. Where history blurs into oral tradition, we tell you so.

Subscribe now, and walk with us into the shadows of South Texas history.