Old Zapata

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Old Zapata. Now settle in, because this one starts a long way back and travels a long road before it's done. In 1770, residents of Revilla, Mexico, established a village on land granted by Jose de Escandon; four and a half miles west of where you're standing right now.

That same year, the Spanish built a fort nearby. Two settlements, same year, same stretch of river. This place meant something to somebody right from the start.

The town's first name was Habitacion, and it grew. Grew until it was the second largest settlement on the Rio Grande. Second largest.

That's not nothing out here. It was named for friendly Indians who were livin' in carrizo huts (carrizo meaning cane), and for a while, Carrizo is what folks called it. Then 1842 rolls around, and the men of the ill-fated expedition to Mier occupied the village while they foraged for supplies.

Ill-fated. That's the marker's own word, and it earns it. When 1858 came and Zapata County was created, the name shifted to Bellville, and then shifted right back to Carrizo.

Names have a way of fighting for themselves. Then in 1898, the town finally landed on Zapata, chosen to honor Colonel Antonio Zapata, a rancher who was executed for his part in the 1839 fight to found the Republic of the Rio Grande. A man who bet everything on a republic that didn't survive, and a town that carried his name into the next century.

The county had notable judges too. Henry Redmond, a well-known area rancher, was the first. And another county judge was Jose Antonio George Navarro, son of Jose Antonio Navarro, one of only two native-born signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

That's the kind of lineage that makes a courthouse feel a little taller. In 1903, the elimination of duty free trade along the border dealt the area an economic decline. But then came irrigation, and with it, a rich agricultural area developed.

Things were lookin' up. And then came Falcon Dam. The construction of that dam flooded Old Zapata.

Not damaged it, not displaced it. Flooded it. The lake water rose over the streets, over the history, over everything the town had built since 1770.

The county seat had to move, and it was relocated to this site, on land originally granted to Bartolome Cuellar and Jacinto de Cuellar. Old Zapata is down there somewhere beneath the water; second largest town on the Rio Grande, named for cane huts, reshaped by politics and trade and a dam, and finally swallowed by a lake. This marker is what's left above the surface.

What the marker says

In 1770 residents of Revilla, Mexico, established a village (4.5 mi. W) on land granted by Jose de Escandon. The same year the Spanish built a fort nearby. In 1842 the men on the ill-fated expedition to Mier occupied the village while they foraged for supplies. First named "Habitacion," the town grew to be second largest on the Rio Grande. It was named for friendly Indians living in "carrizo" (cane) huts. In 1858, after Zapata County was created, the name changed to "Bellville" and then back to "Carrizo." In 1898 "Zapata" was chosen for Col. Antonio Zapata, a rancher executed for his part in the 1839 fight to found the Republic of the Rio Grande. Henry Redmond, a well-known area rancher, was the first county judge. Another county judge was Jose Antonio George Navarro, son of Jose Antonio Navarro, one of the two native-born signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The elimination of duty free trade along the border in 1903 caused an economic decline. With the coming of irrigation, a rich agricultural area developed. After the construction of Falcon Dam and the flooding of Old Zapata by lake water, the county seat was relocated at this site on land originally granted to Bartolome Cuellar and Jacinto de Cuellar. (1979)