EIGHTH GENERATION

1642. Francis "Frank" Lee Dupuy was born on 8 Jan 1916. He died on 31 Oct 1997 in Comal County, Texas.⁽⁷⁷⁴⁾ From the San Antonio Express News, page 5-P, Sunday, December 14, 1980.

After 54 years, a Texas Bridge's days are Numbered

Associated Press

THE RICKETY-LOOKING toll bridge linking two nations at this remote Southwest Texas town was designated "temporary" when built -- to last only as long as it took to build a bigger permanent bridge.

Since then. the one-lane, wooden bridge has been the source of demonstrations, court battles, political grudges and even shootings. County officials say truckers avoid the bridge routinely because they're afraid the weight of their cargo might cause it to collapse. Yet it remains today the only way motorists can cross the Rio Grande into Ojinaga, Mexico, and points south.

Now, at last, its storied days appear to be numbered.

PRESIDIO COUNTY officials, say they intend to build that bigger, stronger bridge promised 54 years ago and they claim they have cleared most of the obstacles. But the controversy over who should build the new bridge goes on, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision in October that has settled the matter for all practical proposes.

Frank Dupuy, loser in the October court decision, says he should be the one to erect a new bridge. He was a boy of 11 when his father, H. E. Dupuy, built the existing toll bridge in 1926. Today, he admits that what with all the trouble it has caused -- including the shooting death of his father -- he would have done something else with his life if he had to do it again.

"My dad was shot at three times in controversies over the bridge," Dupuy recalls. The first two attempts, which both came shortly after the span was completed, missed. The third attempt was successful.

"Dad was killed in 1958 in a controversy with a commissioner who wanted the county to build a new bridge," Dupuy said.

THE COMMISSIONER who was accused of firing the fatal rifle shot, Clyde "Doe" Vought, pleaded self defense in his trial and was acquitted.

Dupuy said his 74-year-old father was unarmed when he was slain, but he said he held no grudges. "Life's too short," he said.

Vought, now in his 80s, doesn't like to talk, about it.

"He called me up and threatened me and that's all I care to say about it," said the white-haired, semi-retired doctor who still delivers babies in this mostly Hispanic farming town of about 1,600 people.

Vought and Dupuy now live in peace here, but the argument that led to the 1958 shooting still separates them.

DUPUY, who says a new bridge would put him out of business. said he has offered without success to sell the county his bridge for $250,000 or build a new one.

"I've got all the permits. I could start tomorrow to build a New bridge if the Mexicans so desired," he said. But the Mexicans won't cooperate with him because "of interference of the county."

"The Mexicans have backed off to wait and see what the county would do," he said. "Now I'm about to be put out of business by political maneuvering. Yes, I feel bitter about it."

THE MEXICANS, who blocked their side of the bridge in 1976 in a demonstration against Dupuy's tolls and the aging condition of the structure, have already announced they will close their side of Dupuy's bridge when the county opens a new one.

That would mean the end of an estimated annual gross income of $150,000 from tolls for Dupuy. But the income was not always so great.

"The bridge was run for many years at a loss because traffic was so sparse. We finally got into the black about 1950," he said. Dupuy argues that as soon as the bridge started making money the county government wanted into the act.

In Marfa, 60 miles to the north, County Judge Charlie Henderson declines to speculate on when construction could start on the new bridge, planned about 100 yards upriver from Dupuy's bridge.

"We still have a few points on the contract with Mexico that have to be clarified," Henderson said. He said the Mexicans had agreed to pay half the cost of the proposed $1.3 mi1lion, two-lane bridge.

"I feel like we have a tremendous amount of traffic from the interior of Mexico that has to bypass us now," Henderson said. He declined to speculate on new toll charges.

FOR YEARS. both sides have complained Dupuy's tolls are too high, and many Americans are miffed by his policy of charging more for their cars. Dupuy said the 60 cents for an American car and driver has not changed since the bridge first opened, and said Mexicans are charged 20 cents less because "they come here to trade … and their standard of living is lower."

He said parts of his bridge have been reinforced with steel and concrete over the years, but about 30 percent of the 600-foot structure is wood.

"It does took like it's going to fall in," he conceded. "But you can't tell by looking how much a bridge will hold. Big butane trucks still cross on it -- its load limit is the same as that for state highways -- 83,000 pounds," he said.

Dupuy nevertheless sounded like a man who knew the end for the old bridge was indeed near.

"If they open up a new bridge maybe I'd plant flowers on mine," he said, smiling at the hunting dog leaning against his leg. "I could make it a thing of beauty".


From the San Antonio Newspaper, San Antonio, Texas
Sunday, November 25, 1984

New bridge stirs up troubled waters


PRESIDIO (AP) --- A 68 year old man angry about a new bridge that eventually will replace the one his father toiled over to connect this West Texas city with Ojinaga, Mexico, has filed a lawsuit against local and state officials.

Frank Dupuy is principal owner of a battered monument of concrete supports, steel beams and aged wooden pilings spanning the Rio Grande.

"There's a tremendous amount of sentiment between me and the ridge, no question about it," Dupuy, 68, told the Dallas Times Herald. "My kids' footprints are in concrete down there…. Dad
fought for it all through the years."

His father, H.E. Dupuy, took on railroad men, politicians, developers, the Mexican government and anyone else who threatened his bridge over four decades.

Last month, state and federal officials from both sides of the border broke ground for a $2 million international bridge that will replace Dupuy's structure.

Officials expect that the new bridge will provide a shorter truck route into Mexico than the existing crossing at El Paso and help the economically depressed border communities.

"I feel like it's the payoff of about 20 something years' work," said George Jordan, a Fort Stockton banker and a leading proponent of the new bridge. "It's about time."

Jordan said the old bridge long has been inadequate for modern traffic, particularly heavy trucks destined for the Mexican interior. Dupuy disagreed, saying his bridge can handle trucks.

"I'm damned mad about it," Dupuy said.

He has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Presidio County and the state of Texas, charging that the publicly financed new bridge will force him out of business. State officials have used federal funds to construct the bridge on the U.S. side of the river.

"This so blatantly violates the free enterprise system of the United States that I just can't bring myself to back off," Dupuy said. "I was brought up under the capitalistic system, and it's worked well for the country, and I just can't see giving, up."

Dupuy alleges a number of technical violations by the state. He has asked for a court injunction to stop construction. But work has continued on the new site, about one-quarter mile from the existing bridge, which first opened in 1927.

Treasure June Walker was born on 21 Jun 1921. She died on 30 Sep 1980 in Harris County, Texas. ⁽¹³⁴⁴⁾ She was buried in I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Yavapai County, Arizona. Francis "Frank" Lee Dupuy and Treasure June Walker had the following children:

+2129 i. Howard Dalton Dupuy.
+2130 ii. Rawley Trent Dupuy.
2131 iii. Glennda June Dupuy (Private).