[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 2, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     HONORING WILSON COUNTY, TEXAS

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. HENRY CUELLAR

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 2, 2010

  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Wilson County, 
Texas on its sesquicentennial year. It was 150 years ago when Wilson 
County was founded in south Texas by an act of the state legislature. 
The area is rich in culture and history and serves a great part to the 
state of Texas.
  Before the founding of the county, the first Spanish explorers 
traveled through the area in the early eighteenth century and used the 
land mostly for ranching. Most notably, the birthplace of commercial 
ranching took place at Rancho de las Cabras. This was a ranching 
outpost for Mission San Francisco de la Espada where the first ranches 
and cowboys settled near Floresville in Wilson County. By the 1800s, 
Anglo American, German and Polish settlers began moving into the area. 
Soon after, the state Legislature founded Wilson County on February 13, 
1860. The county was named after James Charles Wilson, who was an early 
settler of Texas and a state legislator.
  Throughout the years, Wilson County has played a significant role in 
south Texas history. After the Civil War, Wilson County's population 
underwent the greatest growth due to the completion of the San Antonio 
and Aransas Pass Railway, which reached Floresville in 1886. By the 
early nineteenth century, farmers who were once known for cotton crops 
as the most important cash crop, then diversified into a wider range of 
peas, watermelons, and peanuts. Today, some call Floresville the 
``Peanut Capital of Texas.'' One of the county's best known natives is 
John Connally, who was born in 1917 near Floresville. Later Connally 
served as governor and survived a shot during President John F. 
Kennedy's assassination in 1963. One hundred and fifty years has shaped 
the county and development of Texas through its historical sites, 
involvement in diversified farming, ranching, and even oil discovery.
  Wilson County includes towns and cities such as Carpenter, 
Floresville, La Vernia, Pandora, Poth, Saspamco, Stockdale, Sutherland 
Springs, Grass Pond Colony, Kicaster, Doseido Colony, and Sandy Hills. 
It totals 809 square miles and has a population of more than 40,000.
  From a legacy in ranching, to its honorable natives and rich 
historical culture, Wilson County celebrating its sesquicentennial year 
is a milestone for the county and for Texas. I am honored to have had 
this time to recognize Wilson County on its sesquicentennial year. I 
thank you for this time, Madam Speaker.

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