DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker in Bee County tells it, here's the story of Tuleta as I understand it. Now, picture a preacher with a plan and a whole congregation of Illinois settlers trailing behind him. The year was 1906, and the Reverend Peter Unzicker wasn't just leading a Sunday service — he was leading a migration.
All the way down to Texas. That kind of faith takes more than a hymnal. It takes nerve.
He bought up 53.4 acres of land from what had been the original Uranga Grant and later the Chittim-Miller Ranch, and right there on that ground, he founded a town. He named it Tuleta — after the daughter of J. M.
Chittim. A rail depot went up. A post office opened.
And just like that, a place existed where there hadn't been one before. Then in 1909, Pastor Unzicker — the man clearly had a gift for institution-building — organized one of Texas' first Mennonite churches. One of the first.
In the whole state. The townspeople weren't about to be outdone, either. In 1910 they established the Tuleta Agricultural High School, and they called it innovative — that word is right there in the record — with Miss Amanda Stoltzfus serving as principal.
Tuleta grew into a marketing center for the fertile farming country all around it, with a union church and several business houses keeping the community humming. A preacher, a plan, 53.4 acres, and the daughter of a rancher whose name lives on in the town itself. That's Tuleta.
What the marker says
The Rev. Peter Unzicker led a group of Illinois settlers here in 1906. Buying 53.4 acres of land of the original Uranga Grant and later Chittim-Miller Ranch, he founded Tuleta, named for the daughter of J. M. Chittim. A rail depot and post office were opened. In 1909 Pastor Unzicker organized one of Texas' first Mennonite churches. Townspeople established the innovative Tuleta Agricultural High School in 1910, with Miss Amanda Stoltzfus as principal. Once marketing center for this fertile farming area, Tuleta also had a union church and several business houses. (1978)