Cuero

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and here's how I tell it to you. The town of Cuero, DeWitt County, Texas. Pull up a chair.

This one's got a railroad, a couple of catastrophes, and a whole lot of turkeys. In 1873, the Gulf, Western, Texas and Pacific Railroad arrived, and right then and there, a town was founded. That's how these things worked out on the Texas frontier.

The rails showed up, and a town grew up around them like a vine on a fence post. Then, three years later, in 1876, DeWitt County made it official and moved the county seat right here from Clinton. Cuero was planting its flag.

Now, here's where the story takes a darker turn, and you want to pay attention to this part. Down on the Texas coast, the town of Indianola got hit hard by a coastal storm in 1875. Folks there picked themselves up, dusted off, and tried to rebuild.

And then 1886 came around, and another coastal storm destroyed Indianola all over again. Two storms. One town couldn't survive it.

The people who had called Indianola home, those refugees, they made their way inland and they made a new start right here in Cuero. You can hear that in the word, can't you. A new start.

They brought themselves, their memories, and whatever they could carry, and Cuero grew. Farming took hold. Ranching took hold.

Eventually oil and gas came into the picture too, making Cuero that kind of workhorse Texas town that keeps its hands busy with just about everything. And then there are the turkeys. In 1912, Cuero started something called the Turkey Trot, and friend, a town that names a tradition the Turkey Trot and keeps it going is a town that knows exactly who it is.

Cuero. Founded on a railroad, swelled by tragedy, and celebrating with turkeys. That's a Texas story if I've ever told one.

What the marker says

Founded 1873 with arrival of Gulf, Western, Texas and Pacific Railroad. County seat moved here from Clinton, 1876. Population grew after coastal storms of 1875 and 1886 destroyed Indianola and refugees from there made a new start here. Home of Turkey Trot, begun in 1912. Farming, ranching, oil and gas center.