DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the one passing it along — here's how it reads at El Sal del Rey. Twenty-six miles northeast of where this marker stands, there is a salt lake. Not a pond, not a flat — a lake.
And during the Civil War, that lake was about as close to gold as the Confederacy was going to find in South Texas. El Sal del Rey. Spanish for Salt for the King.
And king it was, because in the 1860s, salt wasn't a seasoning. It was survival. Here's what the back of this marker will tell you plain: salting and smoking were the only ways to preserve meat at the time of the Civil War.
When the South levied a meat tithe — a tax in flesh — salt became the thing that turned raw beef and bacon into something an army could carry and eat weeks later. Cavalry horses and artillery mules needed it just to keep moving. Hides couldn't become leather for shoes or harness without it.
You take away the salt, and you don't just lose flavor — you lose the war one rotting pound at a time. So in 1862, the State of Texas put El Sal del Rey under state guard and a state agent. From that lake, salt was sold to families trying to feed their children, to the Texas Military Board, to the Army of the Confederacy, and to the wagons rolling north along the cotton road — a vital trade route that ran south through Mexico and back again, keeping the Confederacy's commerce breathing when Union blockades were squeezing it everywhere else.
Now, the Union knew exactly what that lake meant. Starting in November of 1863, and continuing until the end of the war, Union forces periodically wrecked the salt works. Not once.
Not twice. Periodically. They understood the math just as well as the Confederates did.
And yet the works kept going, because the need never stopped. The lake served one more military purpose. In 1864, El Sal del Rey was a Confederate base for the recapture of Brownsville.
The salt didn't just feed the soldiers — it staged them. Other salt works existed, mind you. The marker notes operations along the coast and in seven counties across central, east, and west Texas.
But this lake, twenty-six miles northeast, was the principal source of salt in South Texas. Principal. There's weight in that word.
Now — after the shooting stopped, the fighting over El Sal del Rey didn't. It just moved into courtrooms and constitutional conventions, and it raged for years. Here is the legal lineage the marker lays out.
Under Spain, mineral rights belonged to the crown. Mexico retained that same principle of state ownership of minerals. When Texas became a Republic and then a State, it kept minerals in the public domain.
That lake, legally speaking, belonged to no private person. Then came the 1866 Texas Constitutional Convention. And in 1866, the Convention relinquished all minerals to landowners.
Just like that, private possession of the lake began. That principle was readopted in the Constitutions of 1869 and 1876. El Sal del Rey, the marker tells us, played a significant role in the history of Texas mineral law — and if you trace the line from Spanish crown to private deed, you can see why.
This marker was erected by the State of Texas in 1963 — a memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. But the story it carries is bigger than any one side of any one war. It's the story of a lake that fed armies, shaped constitutions, drew the guns of Union raiders, and left a legal legacy that echoes in Texas property law to this day.
Twenty-six miles northeast. Still out there. El Sal del Rey.
What the marker says
Front side: Large salt lake located 26 miles northeast was principal source of salt in South Texas during the Civil War. Put under state guard and agent 1862. Salt sold to families, Texas Military Board, Army of Confederacy and wagons returning north on cotton road-vital trade route for South thru Mexico. Due to military and domestic importance, Union forces periodically wrecked the salt works from November 1863 until war's end. It was also a Texas Confederate base for the 1864 recapture of Brownsville. A memorial to Texas who served the Confederacy; erected by the State of Texas 1963. Back side: Salting or smoking were only was to preserve meat at time of Civil War. When South levied a meat tithe, salt necessary to cure bacon and beef for military. Salt was a must for horses and mules used by cavalry, artillery and supply wagons. Hides were preserved with it to make leather for shoes and harness. Other wartime salt works were operated along coast and in 7 counties in central, east and west Texas. El Sal del Rey, Spanish for "Salt for the King" also played a significant role in the history of Texas mineral law. A legal controversy raged for years over its ownership. Under Spain, mineral rights belonged to crown. Mexico retained the principle of the state ownership of minerals. Texas, as Republic and State, kept minerals in the public domain. Private possession of the lake began with the 1866 Texas Constitutional Convention which relinquished all minerals to landowners. The principle of private ownership was readopted in the Constitutions of 1869 and 1876.