DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just gonna pass it along to you. Way down in Hidalgo County, this stretch of South Texas land was once part of something called the Asadores Ranch. Back in the mid-1800s, it belonged to Salvador and San Juana Cavazos — and that's about as deep as the roots go here.
Then 1898 rolls around, and a pair of east Texas rice farmers come callin'. A.F. Hester, Sr. and T.J.
Hooks bought land in the vicinity, and they didn't stop at just farmin' it. They helped launch the La Blanca Agricultural Company and the Arroyo Canal Company to build out an irrigation system — because in South Texas, water isn't a given, it's an achievement. And while they were at it, they helped usher the railroad into the area too.
When a man's determined, he doesn't do things halfway. By 1904, two brothers named Ed and George Ruthven had made their way to the community. Now here's where it gets interesting — Ed set up a store and served as postmaster, and the little community that grew up around all this took the name Run.
Not from a flood, not from a footrace — just a contraction of Ruthven. His brother George, meanwhile, was buildin' irrigation pumps. Practical men, the Ruthvens.
And they weren't alone — Andrew Champion owned a general store out there too. A school opened in 1905. Things were looking up for Run.
But four years later, a devastating flood hit the area. And after that, many of the residents began moving on to Donna. Run had its moment.
The Cavazos land, the rice farmers with big plans, the Ruthven brothers who gave the place its name — all of it real, all of it gone quiet now. That's how it goes sometimes out here on the South Texas plain. The land stays.
The stories need a little help.
What the marker says
This area in the mid-1800s was part of the Asadores Ranch owned by Salvador and San Juana Cavazos. In 1898, east Texas rice farmers A.F. Hester, Sr. and T.J. Hooks bought land in the vicinity. They and others began La Blanca Agricultural Company and the Arroyo Canal Company to build an irrigation system. They also helped usher the railroad into the area. Ed and George Ruthven moved to the area by 1904. Ed established a store and was postmaster for the community of Run (a contraction of his surname), and George built irrigation pumps. Andrew Champion also owned a general store. A school opened in 1905, but many area residents began moving to Donna following a devastating flood four years later. (2006)