Rincon Ranch

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, building an empire sounds like something out of a tall tale, but out here in south Texas, a man named Youngs Coleman and his son Thomas did exactly that. Back in the 1850s, they planted their flag right here at Rincon, and the reason was simple and smart: fresh water.

There was a natural depression in the ground that held it, and in country this dry, that was as good as gold. Maybe better. The Colemans built their headquarters right on that spot, and from there, they stretched their ranching operation across the land like a shadow at sundown.

Now, a smart ranching operation knows when to grow, and in 1871, the Colemans joined forces with George W. Fulton and two men named T.H. and J.M. Mathis.

What they put together became the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, and Rincon stayed the heart of the whole thing. The headquarters grew into something that looked less like a ranch and more like a small town. A main house, worker housing, a school, a commissary, and numerous other outbuildings.

People lived here. Children learned here. Supplies moved through here.

And then, in 1909, a man came calling who did not exactly blend into the brush country scenery. President William Howard Taft himself paid a visit to Rincon. The President of the United States, right here.

Some places earn a certain kind of quiet fame. And then time does what time does. The Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, that sprawling south Texas empire built on fresh water and ambition, was dissolved in the 1920s.

The water is still out there, though. The land remembers.

What the marker says

Youngs Coleman and his son, Thomas, established a south Texas ranching empire in the 1850's. The headquarters of their operation was here at Rincon where there was a fresh water depression. In 1871 the Colemans joined with George W. Fulton and T.H. and J.M. Mathis to form what became the Coleman-Fulton pasture company. The headquarters remained at Rincon and the ranch included a main house, worker housing, a school, commissary, and numerous other outbuildings. President William Howard Taft visited Rincon in 1909. The company was dissolved in the 1920's.