UVALDE -- In the "County of 1,000 springs" 75 miles west of San Antonio, Uvalde sits at a cultural and geographical crossroads, where cell phones and cappuccino meet cowboy boots and homemade enchiladas. An hour's drive from the Mexican border at the junction of two of the nation's longest highways -- U.S. 90 and U.S. 83 -- the town of 17,000 retains vestiges of old Texas despite new growth and a booming local travel industry.
On the tree-shaded town square ringed by turn-of-the-century buildings, visitors can stop by Cody's Hat Shop, Market Square Antiques, the Kincaid Hotel and the Rexall Drug Store, with its old-time soda fountain for a look at Uvalde's past or head east on U.S. 90 to Uvalco Supply Co. and look up Joe Peña, who's been making quality saddles for more than 60 years for celebrities and other customers around the world.
The restored Grand Opera House (1891), anchoring the northeast corner of the old town plaza, reigns as the town's oldest and most distinctive landmark. Built in a Gothic style at a cost of $13,600, the ornate metal-roofed structure has a copper-covered corner bay with a steeple topped by a dragon -- a replica of the original dragon, which was shot up by rowdies who used it for target practice. The opera house offers a variety of musicals and dance and theatrical performances throughout the year.
Once an outpost on the Old San Antonio-El Paso Road, Uvalde was founded in 1855 as Encina. The opera house's Briscoe Visitor Center -- named for one of Uvalde's most prominent citizens, rancher and former Gov. Dolph Briscoe -- is a tiny museum that chronicles the town's history. Another must for visitors is the Briscoe Art and Antique Collection in the First State Bank, featuring more than 100 Oriental rugs, masterpieces by Rembrandt and Gainsborough and fine Western bronzes and oils.
One wall of the Briscoe Visitors Center displays photos of the town's historical buildings and the Victorian and hacienda-style residences along oak-lined boulevards in its older neighborhoods. Another exhibit pays tribute to Uvalde's famous and infamous characters: Dale Evans, queen of Western movies; John King Fisher, a reformed gunslinger who became Uvalde County sheriff; Pat Garrett, who gunned down Billy the Kid; Ben Kincheloe, co-host of The 700 Club television show; and the Newton boys.
Enlarged newspaper and magazine articles tell the story of the Newton Gang, Uvalde's most notorious outlaw family, which robbed 87 banks and six trains, mostly during the 1920s. The last surviving member, brother Joe, died in 1990 a respected man in the community. For shoppers, Uvalde's square and North Getty features shops selling antiques, stained glass, crystal, handcrafted mesquite furniture, vintage and modern Western wear and Mexican imports. La Tienda offers reasonably priced imports from Guadalajara, Mexico.
For a cup of cappuccino and dessert, or perhaps a sandwich, there's a coffee shop in the rear of Casa Mortell, a home décor shop specializing in Mexican furniture, glassware and other specialty gifts. It was opened four years ago by Chicagoan Grace Mortell. "It was purely selfish that I decided to open a coffee bar," Mortell says. "I couldn't even think of living in a place without a cappuccino machine." Uvalde also boasts a number of restaurants offering the two basic Texas food groups -- barbecue and Tex-Mex. Wylie Walden, a longtime Uvalde County educator who sells reconditioned boots and other cowboy paraphernalia inside Market Square Antiques, refers to the town as the "enchilada capital of Texas." He says enchiladas are made according to old family recipes, with cheese and gravy, no meat. "Any place on Highway 90 that serves Mexican food is great," Walden counsels. Uvalde also touts itself as "the Honey Capital of the World." Bees feed on blooms of the guajillo, a native South Texas shrub that produces a tasty, light-colored nectar.
The Garner Memorial Museum last year became part of the University of Texas at Austin's Center for American History. This two-story, 80-year-old brick house pays tribute to Uvalde's best-known resident, John Nance Garner. "Cactus Jack" Garner, so dubbed because he favored the cactus over the bluebonnet as the state flower, moved from East Texas to Uvalde at the age of 22 for health reasons. He went on to become a politician, during the Depression and post-Depression years (1933-1941) as Franklin D. Roosevelt's vice president. It was to Garner, at home in Uvalde celebrating his birthday Nov. 22, 1963, that President John F. Kennedy placed his last phone call before being assassinated in Dallas. A faded Uvalde News-Leader photograph of Garner on the phone with JFK hangs in the museum, along with other memorable pictures of Garner with celebrities, family members and world leaders. Garner lived to be almost 100. He died in 1967, 15 days shy of his 99th birthday.
The longevity of Garner's political career proved remarkable as well. Garner remains the only man in history to preside in uninterrupted succession over both houses of Congress, first as House speaker and then as vice president, who presides in Senate sessions. Known for saying, "The vice presidency isn't worth a pitcher of warm spit," the colorful Garner was always good for a pithy comment and proved a favorite of national cartoonists, whose caricatures of the hoary-haired, bushy-browed, cigar-chomping politician are omnipresent at the museum. On display, too, are dozens of gavels and baseballs signed by New York Yankee greats Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle. One room devoted solely to Garner's love of the outdoors features a 1929 Remington Model 8 rifle, an old canoe, a hunting vest, boots and more.
The rifle fits well with Uvalde's image as a hunter's mecca. Uvalde County sits at the southwestern edge of the Texas Hill Country and the northern fringe of the South Texas Brush Country, where hunting for white-tailed deer, turkey, quail and other game pumps millions of dollars annually into the local economy.
Four spring-fed rivers flow through the region -- the Frio, the Leona, the Nueces and the Sabinal. It is part of the Texas Hill Country River Region, which stretches north of Uvalde to the popular Vanderpool and Leaky area, encompassing such natural jewels as Lost Maples State Park and Garner State Park.
Visitors come to ride horses, hike, bike, bird-watch, swim, canoe and float beneath towering cypress trees. Cabins, camps, bed-and-breakfasts and other accommodations hug the riverbanks and perch on oak-covered hilltops. A growing number of ranchers in Uvalde County are expanding their entrepreneurial horizons beyond the traditional hunting lease. Wright and Susanne Friday manage a cattle, sheep and goat ranch along with a nature tourism business on the Nueces River about 20 miles northwest of Uvalde. "We're a little further off the beaten path than most resorts, but we find that families like to come here because it's quiet and not crowded," Susanne Friday says. "We don't want people to come out here to experience nature and end up elbow to elbow with other people." The 7,000-acre Friday Ranch offers guests two types of accommodations -- a spacious lodge on a bluff overlooking the serpentine Nueces and a two-bedroom retreat in the woods at a bend in the river. Guests can enjoy a variety of river activities, ride horses and play tennis, and observe the ranching operations. Some area guest ranches cater more to a women's-spa clientele and harried business executives seeking a corporate retreat. Other spreads feature, Western entertainment and a chuck wagon meal as part of its guest package.
Source: Houston Chronicle
