El Rancho La Gloria

Duane's take

The official marker for El Rancho La Gloria in Duval County is the source for this story, and I'm going to do it justice. Now, if you wanted to build something lasting in south Texas, really lasting, you needed a few things. You needed land, and plenty of it.

You needed water, though the land didn't always cooperate. You needed grit. And if you were very lucky, you had the right partner beside you.

Edward Nixon Gray had all of those things. He was born in 1826 in Auckland, England, and by 1836 he had crossed an ocean and arrived in Texas with his family. That's a long journey for anyone, and Texas in 1836 was not exactly a gentle welcome.

Gray grew into a man of many trades. He volunteered in the Republic of Texas military, later in the U.S. military, and later still in the Confederate military. He worked as a printer.

He stepped into politics. He ran a mercantile business in a Duval County town called Concepcion. And it was there, behind the counter of that mercantile, that he met Rosa Garza-Garcia.

They married in 1853. Fourteen children would follow. Three of their daughters became teachers.

One of their sons, well, President Theodore Roosevelt himself appointed that son postmaster of Laredo. That is the kind of family that leaves a mark on a place. In 1868, Edward and Rosa began operating a ranch in Duval County.

Through a series of land purchases and improvements, they built what became El Rancho La Gloria, one of the largest ranches in all of south Texas. At its peak, the ranch stretched to approximately forty thousand acres. Thousands of sheep, cattle, oxen, and horses moved across that land.

The property held a two-story, twenty-two-room mansion. There was a school on the grounds, attended by the Gray children and by the children of the ranch hands. A whole world unto itself, sitting out there under the south Texas sky.

But the sky doesn't always stay friendly. By the 1890s, drought came. Animal disease followed.

Economic depression settled over the region like a second sky, and it pressed down hard. El Rancho La Gloria, along with other ranches in the area, could not hold against all three at once. Edward Gray died in 1897, taken by influenza, and was buried on the ranch property he had spent decades building.

Rosa Gray sold the homestead in 1901 and moved to San Marcos in Hays County. She died in San Antonio in 1917 and is interred there. The great structures of El Rancho La Gloria fell into disrepair over the years.

Many of them simply gave way to time. But the Temple Ranch took up preservation work on the property in the late twentieth century, and the story was not allowed to disappear entirely. Today, El Rancho La Gloria is remembered as a major south Texas ranching operation, and the Grays are remembered as people who played a vital role in the development of Duval County.

A man from Auckland, England, and a woman from Concepcion, Texas, together built forty thousand acres of something that mattered. That's a story worth stoppin' for.

What the marker says

In 1868, Captain Edward Nixon Gray and his wife, Rosa Garza-Garcia Gray, began to operate a Duval County ranch. Through a series of land purchases and improvements, the Grays developed El Rancho La Gloria, one of the largest ranches in south Texas. Edward Nixon Gray was born in 1826 in Auckland, England. He immigrated to Texas with his family by 1836. Gray later volunteered in the Republic of Texas, U.S. and Confederate militaries; he was also a printer, political leader and entrepreneur. Gray met Rosa Garza-Garcia while operating a mercantile business in Concepcion (Duval County). They married in 1853 and had 14 children; among their children were three daughters who became teachers and a son whom President Theodore Roosevelt appointed as postmaster of Laredo. At one time, El Rancho La Gloria extended to approximately 40,000 acres and supported thousands of sheep, cattle, oxen and horses. The property contained a two-story, 22-room mansion and a school, which was attended by the chilren of the Grays and of ranch hands. By the 1890s, drought, animal disease and economic depression led to the demise of this and other area ranches. Edward Gray died from influenza in 1897 and was buried on the ranch property. Rosa Gray sold the homestead in 1901 and moved to San Marcos (Hays Co.); she died in San Antonio (Bexar Co.) in 1917 and is interred there. Many of the structures on the ranch fell into disrepair, though the Temple Ranch began preservation work on this property in the late 20th century. Today, El Rancho La Gloria is remembered as a major south Texas ranching operation whose owners played a vital role in the development of Duval County. (2009)