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| Zavala County is in an area of Texas that was disputed territory after the Texas Revolution. The Mexican government and the Republic of Texas both laid claim to the land. In an attempt to reinforce the choice of the Rio Grande as the Texas boundary with Mexico, the state legislature in 1846 established a county between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande and called it Zavala County, named for Lorenzo de Zavala, a Mexican colonist and one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. | |||||||||||||||
| In 1858, when the county was organized, the name was misspelled "Zavalla"
by the legislature. A bill entitled "knocking the `L' out of Zavalla" was introduced and passed in the
Texas legislature in 1906, but was rejected by the federal government. Not until 1929 was the mistake corrected. In 1860 Zavala County had an estimated population of twenty-six and consisted primarily of small ranches. Espantosa Lake, in the southwestern part of the county, was a favorite campground for travelers from Mexico to San Antonio. By 1870 large herds of longhorn cattle and mustangs roamed the area. Both cattle and sheep were raised, especially along the larger streams. |
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| In 1884 the discovery of the first of many artesian wells in the area opened up the possibility of more intense farming in Zavala County. The number of farms jumped from twenty-one in 1880 to 145 in 1890. By the turn of the twentieth century Zavala County was gaining a reputation for fertile soil, mild climate, and an abundance of pure water; ranchers recognized the potential for irrigated farming on their land and speculated about future farming communities. | |||||||||||||||
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