Texas Tropical Trail to Celebrate 115th Monthly Partner Event in La Feria

Updated: May 15, 2015

City of La Feria and La Feria Co-op Cotton Gin host full day event on May 19th

Don’t miss the May 19 Texas Tropical Trail 115th monthly Partner Event in La Feria celebrating 10 years of Partner Events (May 2005 – May 2015) with a focus on the American Civil War in the Rio Grande Valley and the Cotton Trade. Cotton trade was a major economic asset for Texas and the whole Confederacy during the Civil War. Initially cotton was transported to Brazos Santiago Pass at the delta of the Rio Grande and exported from Port Isabel. Union forces captured this port and trade was moved inland to Brownsville, Texas. From Brownsville goods were transported across the border to Matamoros and from there to neutral ports along the Mexican coast. Photo: The war in Texas – Brownsville, now occupied by the army under Major General N.P. Banks, Showing Santa Cruz Ferry. Sketch by L. Avery.

For ten years, the board members and tourism partners of the Texas Tropical Trail Region have been traveling its 20 counties on a monthly basis to visit the “real places telling real stories” about the heritage and culture of South Texas.

This month, the Rio Grande Valley will mark the sesquicentennial of the last land battle of the American Civil War fought at Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville.

To mark this occasion, Texas Tropical Trail is focusing on the history of cotton in the Rio Grande Valley and the important part it played in the Civil War.

More than one month after Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox, the battle of Palmito Ranch represented the last known land engagement fought as part of the Civil War and the ongoing conflict between the Confederacy’s Trans-Mississippi Department and the Union army.

Fought May 12-13, 1865, the Confederates were protecting the center of their clandestine cotton shipping operation with Mexico and European mills. The battle was the Union’s last unsuccessful attempt to seize control of the Lower Rio Grande region.

Event to include review of Bale O’ Cotton – The Mechanical Art of Cotton Ginning by Karen Gerhardt Britton.

The day will include a tour of La Feria Co-op cotton gin and La Feria Cultural Arts Center (formerly Rialto Theater) plus educational programs about Palmito Ranch Battlefield National Historic Landmark, the last land battle of the American Civil War fought May 12-13, 1865 at Palmito Ranch and the Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail plus a book review of “Bale O’ Cotton” – a unique blend of fact and folklore about cotton ginning.

For more information and to make reservations to join the event, contact Nancy at [email protected] no later than Friday, May 15. The event is RSVP only and only cost is $15 (cash only) for the luncheon.

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