The Torres Family
Langtry, Val Verde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the 1870s and 80s brothers Cesario, Bernardo, and Juan Torres won prominence in West Texas for their irrigation work, and Bernardo's Val Verde County land was chosen as the route of the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio railroad. After his death Cesario built the 7D Ranch and gave land for the rail line and depot. His son J.P. Torres, reportedly Langtry's first permanent resident, became Val Verde County's first Hispanic elected official, alternating as justice of the peace with his rival, the legendary Roy Bean.
Why it matters
The Torres family shows the central role of Mexican-American ranchers and irrigators in opening West Texas—and, in J.P. Torres, the early Hispanic political leadership that stood shoulder to shoulder with frontier figures like Roy Bean.
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Related people
- · Cesario Torres
- · Bernardo Torres
- · Juan Torres
- · Jesus Pablo "J.P." Torres
- · Roy Bean
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Langtry sprang up in 1882 as a water stop for the Southern Pacific's steam locomotives, built on land deeded by the Torres family and named most likely for a railroad crew boss. It gained lasting fame through saloonkeeper Roy Bean, the self-styled "Law West of the Pecos," who so admired British actress Lillie Langtry that legend tied her name to the town she eventually visited. Ranchers, a rock-crushing plant, and even tuberculosis patients seeking dry air passed through before a 1920s rail rerouting left it a quiet tourist stop.
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