The American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation System

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You know, the Rio Grande Valley didn't just bloom on its own. Somebody had to look at that dry, stubborn land along the river and see something nobody else was botherin' to see.

That somebody was a land developer named B. F. Yoakum.

In 1905, Yoakum spotted the agricultural potential along the Rio Grande and went out and found investors willing to bet on it with him. Together they purchased two hundred and fifty thousand acres, and they picked up the townsite of Mercedes along with it to serve as their business headquarters. That's not a small wager, friends.

That is a declaration of faith in the land. The pump station came to life in 1908, and once that water started movin', well, things had a way of growin'. By 1920 the system had expanded into three large canals, miles of branches, and five pumping plants pushin' water out across that valley floor.

Then 1930 brought a change of hands. The Hidalgo and Cameron County Water Control and Improvement District took over the whole operation. New stewards, same mission.

And here's the part that lands quiet but lands hard: that system, the one Yoakum dreamed up and investors bankrolled back in 1905, it continues to serve the farming area of the Lower Rio Grande Valley to this day. Some bets pay out for a long, long time.

What the marker says

Land developer B. F. Yoakum saw agricultural potential along the Rio Grande and found investors in 1905 for an irrigation project. They purchased 250,000 acres and the townsite of Mercedes for business headquarters. The pump station began operating in 1908. The system had grown by 1920 to three large canals, miles of branches, and five pumping plants. In 1930 the Hidalgo and Cameron County Water Control and Improvement District took over the system which continues to serve the farming area of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. (1979)