Uvalde County
Uvalde, Uvalde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Created 1850. Named for canyon which in turn had been named for the Spanish Army Captain Juan de Ugalde, who fought and routed Indians here in 1790. Over the years, "Ugalde" became "Uvalde". Many cattle, sheep, goats are raised; and Uvalde honey is famous for its flavor. Noted for fine hunting and scenic drives. Historic sites marked include 3 old forts, 2 Spanish missions, a Ranger camp. Home of Southwest Texas Junior College, Garner State Park and home (now museum and library) of John Nance Garner, first Texan elected Vice-President of United States. 1965
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1850, Uvalde County took its name from a nearby canyon honoring the Spanish army captain Juan de Ugalde, whose surname softened over the years into 'Uvalde.' Ranching country famous for its honey, it counts old Spanish missions, frontier forts, and a Ranger camp among its historic sites, and it was home to John Nance Garner, the first Texan elected Vice President of the United States.
Why it matters
The county's layered name and landscape trace the Texas frontier from Spanish colonial soldiers to a favorite son who reached the second-highest office in the nation.
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Related people
- · Juan de Ugalde
- · John Nance Garner
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of Fort Inge
Uvalde, TX
Established on the Leona River in 1849 and named for a lieutenant killed at Resaca de la Palma in the Mexican War, Fort Inge guarded the southern Overland Mail route against raids in the years before the Civil War. Robert E. Lee visited in 1856, when the post was a tidy cluster of a dozen simple buildings. Confederate troops held it during the war, and federal soldiers returned in 1866 before it was abandoned in 1869.
Site of Fort Inge
Uvalde, TX
Fort Inge was established in 1849 by Captain Sidney Burbank and named for Lieutenant Zebulon M. P. Inge, killed at Resaca de la Palma in 1846. Set on the Texas frontier near Uvalde, it guarded the southern Overland Mail route against raids and sheltered travelers and troops through the mid-nineteenth century. Abandoned during the Civil War, it was reoccupied by federal troops from 1866 to 1869 and later served as a Texas Ranger camp.
The Bosque-Larios Expedition
La Pryor, TX
In the spring of 1675, the humanitarian Antonio Balcarcel dispatched an armed expedition under Fernando del Bosque to escort Fray Juan de Larios on a mission north of the Rio Grande. Entering Texas near present Eagle Pass, the party marched nearly to the site of San Antonio, and on May 16 camped on the Nueces, where more than a thousand Native people gathered to hear Fray Larios chant the Mass and baptize fifty-five infants. That celebration is remembered as the earliest recorded high (sung) Mass in Texas.
Chalk Bluff Indian Massacre
Uvalde, TX
On May 29, 1861, two of southwest Texas's most noted frontiersmen were ambushed here by a band of some twenty Native warriors. Henry Robinson, a tall, red-bearded man so well known that his likeness had been painted on a rock near the Llano River, was traveling to Camp Wood with his companion Henry Adams when the attack came. Both men were killed and scalped, after which the raiders struck Robinson's home—only to be driven off by his family.