[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 98 (Tuesday, July 13, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1524]]
                  SALUTE TO THE CITY OF YOAKUM, TEXAS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 13, 1999

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the City of 
Yoakum, Texas, which will celebrate its 112th birthday on Wednesday, 
July 28, 1999, with a festival at the city's Heritage Museum.
  Yoakum is located partially in western Lavaca County and partially in 
eastern DeWitt County. Today, the city is known as the ``Leather 
Capital of the World,'' due primarily to the economic impact of 12 
leather goods manufacturing firms and some 16 factory locations in 
Yoakum.
  In its early years, Anglo-Americans used Yoakum as a gathering site 
for thousands of bawling Texas Longhorns that were grouped into cattle 
drives and driven along the Chisolm Trail to market. Yoakum's townsite 
was established in 1887 with the arrival of the San Antonio & Aransas 
Pass Railroad--the railroad of Yoakum's history.
  Once, Yoakum was the ``Green Wrap'' tomato capita of the world and 
still commemorates this heritage with the annual ``Tom Tom Festival.'' 
As that industry faded, the community leaders--namely Mr. C. C. 
Welhausen--fostered the idea that Yoakum needed another industry as a 
base to its economy. The result: a leather industry era that now 
employs some 1,500 and produces millions of dollars of the Yoakum area 
economy.
  Beef production is also huge in Yoakum, and both Lavaca and DeWitt 
Counties rank in the top five counties in the State of Texas in cow-
calf operations. A true cowboy culture exists in the Yoakum area due to 
the thousands of head of cattle grown on area ranches.
  I am proud to represent a city so full of rich, Texas heritage. Mr. 
Speaker, I hope you will join me sending happy birthday wishes to the 
City of Yoakum, Texas.

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