Heir Unapparent

"We simply want to participate, hold board seats [on the nonprofit organizations], be part of the decision process. I think there's enough money to accommodate the Fernandezes without disturbing the works of the trust and the foundation," he says.

One of the many ironies of this improbable South Texas saga is found in the haunting account in If You Love Me, You Will Do My Will of the final lonely years of the last known Kenedy, Sarita Kenedy East.

According to the book, after her brother's death, she despaired as a childless widow of there being no Kenedy heirs to carry on and preserve the beloved La Parra Ranch.

"I think if Sarita had known she had a niece, she would have made provisions for her. She cared for everyone. Certainly she would have cared for her own flesh and blood," Schwartz says. "From all accounts of Sarita Kenedy, she would have provided for Maria and her child. Someone who cared about her own bloodline would have made sure they were part of her will, but we have no reason to believe she knew she had any heirs."