Cotulla, Texas

Cotulla, the county seat of La Salle County, is twenty-seven miles north of Encinal on U.S. Interstate Highway 35 in the northwestern part of the county. The town was named for Joseph Cotulla, a Polish immigrant. After learning that the International-Great Northern Railroad intended to extend its tracks into La Salle County in the early 1880s, Joseph Cotulla worked to build a town on the present site of Cotulla. In 1881 he provided 120 acres of land to induce the railroad to build into the county, and by 1882 a railroad depot had been built and lots in the new town had begun to be sold. By 1883 the town had been granted a post office, and several new buildings had been constructed, including a general store, a hotel, and a jail. In a special county election held that year Cotulla was designated the county seat, and the town began a period of rapid growth. By 1890 it had a population of 1,000, three general stores, two weekly newspapers, two churches, a saloon, a bank, a corn mill, and a cotton gin. Cotulla developed a reputation as a rough place during its early years. According to one story, railroad conductors announced the town by calling out,"Cotulla! Everybody get your guns ready." Three sheriffs and nineteen residents are said to have lost their lives in gunfights in the town. Nevertheless, civilized institutions were also evolving; by 1885 Cotulla had a school enrolling 135 students, and by 1886 the town had a debating society that discussed such topics as "Should the education of a woman be co-equal of that of a man?" By 1892 Cotulla had a hotel, four general stores, three saloons, a meat market, two grocery stores, and daily stage service to supplement its railroad connection. School records for 1896 and 1906 show a separate school for fifteen black children. Cotulla's economy has been largely based on sheep and cattle ranching. By 1914 the community had 1,800 residents, three hotels, two banks, two restaurants, an ice plant, an electric power plant, and a movie theater. In the mid-1920s new elementary and high schools were built. By 1931 Cotulla had a population estimated at 3,175 and seventy-five businesses. The population remained relatively stable and perhaps actually grew during the 1930s. A free public library was built in 1937, and by 1941 Cotulla had 3,633 residents and eighty businesses. In 1947 fifty-four businesses were reported. In 1949 the town built its first airport, and during the early 1950s the discovery of oil in the area helped to bolster the economy. In 1954 Cotulla had 4,425 residents, who supported ninety-two businesses. In 1961 the town had a population of 3,960 and seventy-two businesses. By 1971 it had an estimated 3,814 people and forty-seven businesses. In 1974 the mayor of Cotulla was of Mexican descent, as were several members of the town council and two-thirds of the population. Since Cotulla had no industry, however, many residents lived in the town only part-time and seasonally migrated north to look for work. In 1982 Cotulla had a population of 3,912 and seventy-four businesses. In the early 1980s Ida and Ben Alexander donated the Alexander Memorial Library. The La Salle County Historical Commission sponsors the Brush Country Museum in the center of town. In 1990 the population of Cotulla was 3,694 and in 2000 it was 3,614.

Designed by Austin architect Charles H. Page, this brick schoolhouse was completed in 1926 and named for County Judge G. A. Welhausen (1862-1944). Twenty-year-old Lyndon B. Johnson came to Cotulla in 1928-29 and served as teacher and principal at the school, which served the city's Hispanic students for many years. Built in a classically inspired plan with a central block flanked by two low wings, the building features decorative tile panels. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990

Polish immigrant Joseph Cotulla (1844-1922) came to America in 1856, traveling with his family by ship and oxcart. He worked on area ranches and registered his own brand, the BAR JF, in 1863. Joseph enlisted in the First Texas Cavalry of the Union Army and served for two years during the Civil War. He drove cattle from the Nueces River to Kansas for several years. He started an area ranch with four other men in 1869 before establishing his own ranch in 1874. Cotulla continued to buy land and amassed more than 30,000 acres in La Salle, Dimmit and Webb counties. He donated 120 acres of the ranch to the railroad in 1881 to develop a townsite, which bears his name and became La Salle county seat. The original ranch land remains in the family today. (2009)

"Jack" Van Cleve, Jr., United States Marine, law enforcement officer, and Texas Ranger, was born Olen Jackson Van Cleve on September 23, 1918, in Del Rio, Texas, to Jonathan "John" Van Cleve and Pearl Gertrude (Light) Van Cleve. The 1930 census recorded the Van Cleve family living in La Pryor in Zapata County, where John Van Cleve worked on a ranch and Jack attended school. By 1940 the family lived in Uvalde, Texas, and Jack Van Cleve, Jr., had enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), where he worked as a carpenter in Company 879, which was stationed at Garner State Park . During his time in the CCC camps, he started boxing, which he continued during his military service and beyond. During World War II Van Cleve enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on February 18, 1942, and soon was transferred to the Third Recruit Battalion at the Station Sea School, Recruit Depot, Marine Corps Base, San Diego, California. Private Van Cleve was transferred to the Marine Detachment on the USS Chester , a Northampton class heavy cruiser, in October 1942. In July 1944 he was promoted to corporal and promoted to sergeant in January 1945. In April 1945 Van Cleve was transferred to the Marine Barracks at the Naval Ammunition Depot on Mare Island, California. He served in the Pacific Theater for three years and was discharged on October 10, 1945, with the rank of sergeant at Marine Barracks, Naval Magazine, Port Chicago, California. Following the war, Jack Van Cleve married France LaVane Weathers in Frio County on November 16, 1946, and two sons, Jack III and Jimmy Ray, were born to this union. Van Cleve was a noted farmer of spinach and turnips in Zavala County, planted watermelons in Frio County, and later operated a family cattle ranching operation in La Salle County. He was appointed deputy sheriff of Zavala County on February 1, 1947, and was stationed at La Pryor; he served at this position for seven years. In 1954 he ran for county sheriff of Zavala County but was unsuccessful. Van Cleve also served as a game warden and Special Ranger for the Jack Bowman Land & Cattle Company before his career as a Texas Ranger. On April 1, 1957, Jack Van Cleve enlisted in Company D of the Texas Rangers under Capt. Alfred Y. Allee , who commanded headquarters in Carrizo Springs. In September 1957 Van Cleve was assigned to Cotulla. Soon after joining the Texas Rangers, Van Cleve with Ranger Ed Gooding broke up a gambling racket in Houston and Galveston, after the Texas Rangers had conducted a multi-year investigation of these illegal casinos. While serving in Houston, Van Cleve received an award for his "outstanding contribution to the law enforcement of Texas" by the Texas Law Enforcement Foundation. In 1964 Rangers Van Cleve and Levi Duncan were part of an intensive multi-agency man search after an armed home invasion near Happy Hollow in Uvalde County. In 1966 Governor John Connally ordered the Texas Rangers to the Rio Grande Valley to investigate the farmworkers' conditions after the United Farm Workers Strike ( see STARR COUNTY STRIKE ). Again in 1967 Van Cleve and other Rangers were sent to Rio Grande City after some unionists were beaten during the new melon harvest. In the aftermath of those operations, six members of the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee filed a civil suit against Captain Allee and other Texas Rangers, including Van Cleve, for alleged "brutality and civil rights violations by the Rangers during arrests." The action set into motion court proceedings that culminated in the United States Supreme Court decision against the Rangers in Allee v. Medrano (1974) that upheld a similar 1972 decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. In the late 1960s Ranger Van Cleve stopped a riot during an explosive election night in his hometown of Cotulla. Just prior to retirement, at the request of Governor Dolph Briscoe , Van Cleve and Ranger Walter A. Russell met King Hussein of Jordan during his visit t

For many years, water scarcity stunted settlements in La Salle County. Wells and windmills failed to solve the problem. In 1910 at this site, Joseph Cotulla (1844-1923) explored and brought in artesian water from a depth of 2200 feet. Situated on his own ranch, the well provided amply for his household, livestock, and irrigated fields. His success led the city of Cotulla to bore its own artesian wells and generate prosperous civic growth. Joseph Cotulla's well at this site flowed for 52 years, until capped in 1962.

Cotulla sits along the southern branch of El Camino Real de los Tejas, a notorious stretch of brush country between Laredo and San Antonio that travelers feared for its drought, its bandits, and its lack of water.