Val Verde County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the man drivin' you through it. Val Verde County. Southwest Texas, right up against the border with Mexico, sitting on the southwestern edge of the Edwards Plateau.

Before a single county line was drawn, this land was home to prehistoric peoples, their archeological sites still scattered across the country. Native Americans inhabited it, visited it. Europeans passed through it, some of them heading to and from Mexico, this stretch of land serving as a kind of corridor between worlds.

The soil here, the marker is honest about this, it is not perfect for farming. But the land is large, and it is ideal for grazing, threaded through with rivers and creeks. That part, at least, nature got right.

Now, in 1836, all of this land got lumped into Bexar County, along with most of Southwest Texas. That was a lot of ground for one county to claim. Come the 1850s, folks started carving this region into something more manageable, forming counties one by one.

Down near the Rio Grande, in what was then Kinney County, a settlement took shape in the 1860s. It was originally called San Felipe del Rio, and it sat in a position that made it a gateway to Mexico. You probably know it today as Del Rio.

Then came 1882, and with it the Southern Pacific Railroad, which reached Del Rio and, notably, bypassed Brackettville, the county seat of Kinney County. That railroad did not go unnoticed. From 1882 to 1885, the pressure to create a new county, one with Del Rio as its seat, kept building.

There was an initial defeat in the legislature. That happens. But the county was organized in 1885, officials were elected, and Val Verde County was carved from parts of Crockett, Kinney, and Pecos Counties.

Now here is where it gets interesting, and the marker does not pretend to settle it. The name Val Verde. There is a debate.

Some argue the county was named in honor of a battle fought near Fort Craig, New Mexico in 1862. Others say the name, Spanish for Green Valley, is purely an environmental description of the land itself. The marker lays out both sides and leaves you to sit with it, which is maybe the most honest thing a marker can do.

Today, Val Verde County's population continues to grow. It supports numerous sheep, goat, and cattle ranches, Laughlin Air Force Base, tourism, and trade with Mexico. A gateway county in 1860s, a railroad county by 1882, and a growing county still.

Whatever the name means, the place itself keeps answering to it.

What the marker says

VAL VERDE COUNTY LIES IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS NEAR THE BORDER WITH MEXICO AND ON THE SOUTHWESTERN EDGE OF THE EDWARDS PLATEAU. HOME TO MANY PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES, THE COUNTY WAS ALSO INHABITED AND VISITED BY NATIVE AMERICANS AND EUROPEANS, SOME AS THEY WERE PASSING TO AND FROM MEXICO. ALTHOUGH THE SOIL IN THE COUNTY IS NOT PERFECT FOR FARMING, THE LARGE AREA IS IDEAL FOR GRAZING AND INCLUDES MANY RIVERS AND CREEKS. THE LAND THAT IS NOW VAL VERDE COUNTY WAS ASSIGNED TO BEXAR COUNTY IN 1836, ALONG WITH MOST OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS. BEGINNING IN THE 1850s, THE FORMATION OF COUNTIES IN THIS AREA BEGAN. FORMING A GATEWAY TO MEXICO, DEL RIO (ORIGINALLY SAN FELIPE DEL RIO) WAS ESTABLISHED NEAR THE RIO GRANDE IN KINNEY COUNTY IN THE 1860s. IN 1882, THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD REACHED DEL RIO, BYPASSING BRACKETTVILLE, THE COUNTY SEAT OF KINNEY COUNTY. FROM 1882 TO 1885, DEMAND TO CREATE A NEW COUNTY WITH DEL RIO AS THE COUNTY SEAT INCREASED. AFTER AN INITIAL DEFEAT IN THE LEGISLATURE, THE COUNTY WAS ORGANIZED IN 1885 AND OFFICIALS WERE ELECTED. THE COUNTY WAS CARVED FROM PARTS OF CROCKETT, KINNEY AND PECOS COUNTIES. THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME VAL VERDE IS THE SUBJECT OF DEBATE. SOME ARGUE THAT THE NAME IS IN HONOR OF THE BATTLE NEAR FORT CRAIG, NEW MEXICO IN 1862, WHILE OTHERS MAINTAIN THAT THE NAME, SPANISH FOR "GREEN VALLEY," IS PURELY AN ENVIRONMENTAL DESCRIPTION. THE POPULATION OF THE COUNTY CONTINUES TO GROW AND SUPPORTS NUMEROUS SHEEP, GOAT AND CATTLE RANCHES, LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, TOURISM AND TRADE WITH MEXICO.