DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Torres Family out in Val Verde County. Now settle in, because this one's got land deals, railroads, and a name you might recognize sitting on the other side of a rivalry. In the 1870s and 1880s, three brothers — Cesario, Bernardo, and Juan Torres — were prominent West Texas citizens, and their reputation rested on irrigation work in the region.
Out west, where water is everything, that kind of work put a man on the map. Bernardo was the one who received land in Val Verde County, right at the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Pecos River. That is a dramatic piece of country, and as it turned out, a strategically significant one.
His land was chosen as the route of the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio rail line. Not bad for a piece of ground at a river crossing. Then Bernardo died in 1882, and the story passed to his brother Cesario.
Cesario acquired the land, established what became known as the 7D Ranch, and gave land for the railroad tracks and the depot. He didn't just hold the ground — he shaped what grew on it. Now here's where the story gets a particular kind of interesting.
Cesario's son, Jesus Pablo Torres — known as J.P. — was reportedly the first permanent resident of Langtry, which back then went by the name Eagle's Nest. J.P. Torres also became Val Verde County's first Hispanic elected official.
And in the 1890s, he and a certain rival named Roy Bean alternately served as justices of the peace. Alternately. Meaning one held the gavel, then the other.
Back and forth, between J.P. Torres and Roy Bean, over the law of that same raw stretch of West Texas. The marker doesn't say who won.
Maybe that's because neither one of them entirely did.
What the marker says
The Torres Family In the 1870-80s, brothers Cesario, Bernardo and Juan Torres were prominent West Texas citizens due to their irrigation work in the region. For work out west, Bernardo received land in Val Verde County at the Rio Grande-Pecos river confluence. His land was chosen as the route of the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio rail line. After Bernardo's death in 1882, Cesario acquired the land, established the 7D Ranch and gave land for the railroad tracks and depot. His son, Jesus Pablo J.P." Torres, was reportedly the first permanent resident of Langtry, then called Eagle's Nest. J.P. was also Val Verde county's first Hispanic elected official. He and his rival Roy Bean alternately served as justices of the peace in the 1890s. (2003)