El Corrido de Leandro “Lee” “Sam Trevino” Alcantar

DAD

He was a huge guy. Really big. He was scary. At my grandma's house, he was always in a little room off by himself and they used to tell us kids not to bother him.

PAPA

My dad was an asshole. He used to walk around and jingle the change in his pocket, just so people would know he had money. Me and Rudy used to sleep in the little back house, the girls slept up in the front house with my mom and dad, and my dad would come in and kick me in the back at 4:30 in the morning and I'd have to go work in the fields before school.

TÍA NORMA

I don't remember that. I don't remember anything like that. My mom and dad loved us. They gave us everything we wanted. We were happy.

DAD

I don't know what we are. No one was Mexican. Probably Spanish or Basque. Trevino is a Basque name. But Trevino's not the real name.

COUSIN HEATHER

Sam changed his last name to his sister's married name as he was raised by her (what I heard), also my mother told me he and his brother were on the run when young due to a crime and he needed to change his name because they were after him for the crime his brother committed.

COUSIN LISA

I do have an idea as to why Great-Grandpa Trevino changed last name. How true it is I don’t know, my dad would not talk about the different last names. I understand that Grandpa Trevino had hurt someone so he took his sister’s last name to hide.

COUSIN ZOE

They had to change the last name because Papa's uncles were bank robbers.

DAD

They had to change the name because they ran with Pancho Villa.

PAPA

My grandpa's brothers were train robbers. They had to change the last name.

ANCESTRY.COM

Samuel "Lee Trevino" Alcantar was born on August 5, 1883 in Mexico to Antonio Alcantar and Maria Bowman.

MOM

Grandpa Sam’s mom was German. She didn’t speak any English.

COUSIN LISA

I did DNA and no German, mainly Mexican.

1900 STARR COUNTY CENSUS

Actually, Samuel was born in Texas in August 1890. He is the third son of Lazaro and Tomasa Treviño, both born in Mexico. All of their children were born in Texas.

CALIFORNIA DEATH INDEX

Actually, Sam Trevino was born on April 5, 1893.

U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX

Actually, Sam L. Trevino was born on August 5, 1893.

U.S. WWII DRAFT REGISTRATION CARD

Actually, Samuel (no middle name) Trevino was born in San Antonio, Texas on August 5, 1893.

TEXAS STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS

Actually, Sam Trevino is a Mexican man born in 1907. His wife, Josephine Hirvenez, is also Mexican.

1940 DALLAS COUNTY CENSUS

Actually, Sam Trevino is a white man born in Texas. His wife is a white woman, Josephina, also born in Texas. Sam is currently unemployed but works as a grass cutter. Josephina does not work. They have eight children. Sam never attended school and his wife completed the third grade. Their oldest son Alvarado, 17, completed the fourth grade, and their oldest daughter, Alice, 12, completed the fifth grade.

1920 MAVERICK COUNTY CENSUS, EAGLE PASS CITY

Actually, Josefina Jimenez is a white woman, born in Mexico in 1906. She came to the United States in 1916. She never attended school but can read and write. Her tongue is Spanish, but she can speak English. She currently works as a servant in a private home.

Tasia Trevino is a writer and musician from California. Her work has been supported by fellowships at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a Yefe Nof California Writing Residency, and has been published in Fence, Bennington Review, Best New Poets 2020, and elsewhere. More at tasiatrevino.com.