Soy de Duval

While today farming is a scarce commodity in Duval County, it has not always been that way. In the second half of the 19th century, many landowners were involved in ranching and other livestock pursuits besides cattle raising. It was not rare to hear the joyful news that farmers got rain, and corn and crops looked good and farmers expected a good season. In a trip to Corpus Christi in April 1887, R. R. Savage reported it rained for hours in San Diego. Calixto Tovar of Duval County had 30 acres in corn and six acres in potatoes and watermelons. The Corpus Christi Caller editor took the train to San Diego in search of shekels (money) and declared the area as the “Finest country under the sun.” California not excluded. “As far as the eye could see it was covered with one solid mat of grass and flowers;” daisies and buttercups filled the air with fragrance,” wrote the editor. “Cattle and horses with their sides standing out…and fields of corn and cotton were found in all directions. Du...

The election of 1888 continued to rile folks long after Election Day. But the following December the community took a deep breath to enjoy the Christmas season. Father Bard celebrated the midnight mass or misa de gallo to a full church with more than half of the town in attendance and many standing outside of church because it was packed. After mass, the people enjoyed some eggnog and a fireworks display of shooting rockets, Roman candles and firecrackers. There was also plenty of drinking but no one got into trouble. The next day, on Christmas, the Gun Club held a shooting match in which Juan Puig was the subject of everyone’s jokes after he missed all his shots. Townspeople also enjoyed some horse races and had the choice of two or three dances, one put on by John Buckley Jr. for the young people and another by Willie Rallston at the old Spann Building. Bad weather did not keep people away from a New Year’s dance at the Garfield House. Even though the streets were in terrible condit...

The drought that plagued Duval County in the summer of 1884 began to clear in September when heavy rains, which stock raisers welcomed, nearly flooded Benavides. The rain, however, provided cover for a party of robbers who assaulted the clerk of the Levy store in Piedras Pintas. The robbers threatened to kill the clerk if he told P. W. Toklas or anyone else that they had asked about his whereabouts. The clerk felt Toklas was in danger and told him of the bandits’ interest. Toklas gathered a posse the following morning to look for the robbers but lost their trail because of the recent heavy rains. County commissioners, meanwhile, called for bids to build a new jail. Several contractors attended the Oct. 1 commissioners court meeting, but the commissioners failed to show up and the item was postponed. With the cost of the project reportedly requiring a $10,000 bond issue, rumors spread throughout the county that large taxpayers would vigorously oppose the jail. The proposal called for th...