[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 3266-3267]
[From the U.S. 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

[[Page 3267]]

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.
  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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