Jim Hogg County is in the Rio Grande Plain region of South Texas 28 miles north of the Mexican border and 66 miles west of the Gulf Coast. Because of its location away from the coast and primary trade routes, the future county was not immediately settled by the Spanish. Those grantees who chose to develop their land found that it was best suited to ranching. Many ranchers, however, were discouraged by hostile Indians and the region’s isolation and returned to Mexico.

Between the Texas Revolution and the end of the Mexican War, Jim Hogg County lay in the disputed territory between the Rio Grande and the Nueces. Numerous grantees fled to Mexico to avoid the hostilities. Others, able to succeed where many failed, established themselves in the area. Initially, the advent of Anglo settlers in the early 1830s did little to alter the region’s economic or social character. In most cases, the newcomers were integrated into the existing society, either by marriage into wealthy Mexican families or through land purchase. Moreover, unlike the situation in other South Texas counties, Anglo settlers in the area did not immediately displace resident Hispanic ranchers, many of whom kept their land and political power well into the 20th century.

Immediately after the end of the Mexican War, all of the land in the disputed territory was officially made part of the state of Texas. At various times the area that is now known as Jim Hogg County was under the jurisdiction of Brooks, Duval, Starr, Zapata, Live Oak and Hidalgo counties. Part of the area was included in Brooks County when it was formed in 1911, but in 1913, in an effort to free themselves from the political dominance of Edward C. Lasater, county leaders requested from the state legislature that a county separate from Brooks County be formed.

Despite a growing influx of new residents around the turn of the century, Jim Hogg County was still only sparsely settled at the time of its formation. Before 1880 most of the inhabitants had lived on or around larger ranches. In the late 1870s, for example, Randado Ranch formed the center of a community of 300 residents. With the increased demand for beef cattle, the completion of the railroad, and the growth of commercial ranching, the population slowly increased.

On April 17, 1921, the first commercial oil well, Killam No. 3, came in at a depth of 1,461 feet, producing 100 barrels of oil per day. The economy nonetheless remained focused primarily on ranching. In the decades after World War II the county’s economy continued to be largely devoted to ranching and petroleum production. Although the number of ranches declined, largely as the result of consolidations, the number of cattle increased steadily, reaching nearly 50,000 by the early 1980s. Annual oil production in the early 1990s was around 800,000 barrels. In the early 1990s the oil and gas industry was the largest employer in the county.

The population has consistently been at least 80 to 90 percent Hispanic. Jim Hogg County has been staunchly Democratic; its residents voted Democratic in every presidential election from the time of the county’s inception in 1913 to 1992.

(Editor’s Note: In 2004, Jim Hogg County was named the Vaquero Capitol of Texas. The county now proudly celebrates its vaquero history every year during the first weekend in November with its annual Vaquero Festival.)

The vaquero, or cowboy, the mounted herdsman of the Spanish colonial period and his Mexican counterpart of the 19th century, is a historical figure that, like the Anglo cowboy, has attained romantic features and near-mythic stature. Anglo stock raisers were heavily influenced by the Spanish ranching institutions that they found upon their arrival. Over a period of time, particularly between 1821 and the trail-driving era, many Spanish stock-handling techniques passed into the Anglo way of doing things, and the distinctions between the two traditions blurred. Spanish vaqueros in colonial times were generally viewed by their society as a rough and rowdy lot. Many of them operated outside the law. They were invariably noted for their horsemanship and stock-tending skills. As ranching made its way north to Texas through the tier of provinces along the Rio Grande, these herdsmen were the vanguard of Hispanic colonization. In many cases they attached themselves to a patrón (an influential rancher who owned a grant of land from the king), married, and built a shack on his property. Their children were born and raised in service to the patrón, an arrangement that sometimes spanned generations.

From the era of the Texas Revolution and beyond, South Texas abounded in wild longhorn cattle, noted for their stamina and adaptation to the land. After the Civil War these herds increased dramatically and, when rounded up and branded, formed the basis for a number of prosperous huge ranches. Hired vaqueros figured in this process, as well as in the drives to railheads and northern markets. By this time (1870s), the vaquero’s saddle, chaps, bandana, sombrero, lasso, spurs, and even elements of his expertise were so widespread that they lost their Hispanic identity and became simply “Texan.”

(The information above is excerpted from the Handbook of Texas, an encyclopedia published by the Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook can be accessed on-line at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/ online/index.new.html. Copies of the two-volume set may be obtained by contacting the history organization at 512-232-1513.)