Early Texas Anglo History

And so, Texas north of the Rio Grande became part of the United States. Santa Anna returned to Mexico and was still in power. It took a while for the state to dev elop. The teritory west of the Colorado River still belonged to some of the Indian tribes, and the land south of San Antonio was still open. Later on, this land to the South became the King Ranch. The Northington Family in Wharton County not only raised cattle but they also raised some fine horses. Later on, George Northington III took over the operation of the Red Brick Ranch. Texas became to home of Longhorn cattle, which were driven to market by the thousands, and sold in the stockyards at Kansas City. It was the King Ranch which developed a new breed of cattle, known as Santa Gertrudis, which were peculiar to South Texas. All this wide open cattle business was supplanted in the 1920s by the oil companies. The discovery well of the Permian Basin was drilled a bout two miles west of Big Lake, Texas, in Reagan County. Since then the Permian Basin has reached to New Mexico and to the Big Bend and north to Big Spring, thousands of acres leased first to the ranchers and then to the oil companies. The royalties from the Permian Basin have made it possible to create a major university, the Universit of Texas at Austin, and to upgrade Texas A@M university at College Station.