[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 35 (Thursday, March 11, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E363-E364]
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

                        Thursday, March 11, 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 the area in the early eighteenth century and used the land 
mostly for ranching. Most notably, the birthplace of 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, Mexicans, 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 
like peas, watermelons, and peanuts. Today, some call Floresville the 
``Peanut Capital of Texas.'' Wilson County residents have served 
valiantly in combat from the Civil War to today's conflicts in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. One hundred and fifty years has shaped the county and 
development of Texas through its rich culture and history and of a 
diversified economy that includes farming, ranching, and even oil 
discovery.

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  Wilson County includes towns and cities such as, Floresville, La 
Vernia, Pandora, Poth, Stockdale, Sutherland Springs, and communities 
such as Carpenter, Calaveras, Canada Verde, Grass Pond Colocy, 
Kicaster, Doseido Colony, Saspameo 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.

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