When Ricardo Isaias Zavala came to StoryCorps, his son, Ricardo Javier, asked who the most important person in his life was.

The answer came without a moment’s hesitation — it was Vicente Domingo Villa, Ricardo Isaias’ grandfather.

He told a story that began in the 1920s, when Vicente was a young boy enamored with the vaqueros, or cowboys, who worked on the South Texas ranches where he lived.