01 · THE BEGINNINGS
How Cotulla
became Cotulla.
An immigrant rancher, a railroad, and two towns competing for a future.
The founder
Joseph Cotulla was a Polish immigrant who built a ranching life in South Texas. The Texas Historical Commission’s ranch marker records two years of service in the Union Army’s First Texas Cavalry, cattle drives from the Nueces River to Kansas, and the establishment of his own ranch in 1874.
In 1881, he donated 120 acres to encourage a railroad townsite. A depot and town-lot sales followed in 1882. The tracks helped connect local producers to distant markets.
Two towns, one set of tracks
Across the railroad, Jesse Laxton developed a competing town called La Salle. It became the temporary county seat in 1882. Voters chose Cotulla in a special election in 1883, and La Salle was eventually absorbed into its neighbor.
Read more: THC’s Cotulla Ranch marker ↗ · TSHA’s county history ↗ · The town of La Salle ↗
