Eagle Pass, Texas

History

Eagle Pass was the first American settlement on the Rio Grande. Originally known as Camp Eagle Pass, it served as a temporary outpost for the Texas militia, which had been ordered to stop illegal trade with Mexico during the Mexican-American War. Eagle pass is so named because the contour of the hills through which the Rio Grande flows bore a fancied resemblance to the outstretched wings of an eagle.

General William Leslie Cazneau (1807–1876) founded the Eagle Pass townsite in the 1840s.

In 1850, Rick Pawless opened a trading post called Eagle Pass. In 1871, Maverick County was established, and Eagle Pass was named the county seat. During the remainder of the 19th century, schools and churches opened, the mercantile and ranching industries grew, and a railway was built.

The United States Army established the presumably permanent Fort Duncan on March 27, 1849, a few miles upstream from Camp Eagle Pass. Captain Sidney Burbank supervised the construction of Fort Duncan, which was named after Colonel James Duncan, who had fought in the Mexican War. After the Mexican-American War, trade flourished under the protection of the fort. The fort was near the trail of westward immigration to California. It also served as an outpost against hostile Apache. It was abandoned and reopened several times. In March 1860, it served as the base of operations against the border assaults arranged by Juan N. Cortina.

Fort Duncan was held by the Confederacy during the American Civil War. On July 4, 1865, General Joseph O. Shelby, en route to offer his troops' service to Maximilian in Mexico, stopped at Fort Duncan and buried in the Rio Grande the last Confederate flag to have flown over his men. After several decades of deactivation, Fort Duncan was activated as a training camp during World War I. In 1938, the City of Eagle Pass acquired the fort and still operates a museum and a children's library at the site.

The rancher and gunfighter King Fisher lived in Eagle Pass until his ambush and murder in San Antonio in 1884.

During World War I Camp Eagle Pass was established as a post of the U.S. Army. The 3rd Infantry Regiment was assigned there and patrolled the Mexican Border.

Lawsuit

The City of Eagle Pass was sued by the US government in 2008 to gain access to the land and construct a fence on the United States-Mexico border.

Public corruption scandals

Eagle Pass and Maverick County have been the subject of several state and federal criminal investigations which have gained state and national media attention.

Maverick County corruption scandal

An ongoing public corruption, bid-rigging, and kickback investigation by the FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety has resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of all four Maverick County Commissioners, one Justice of the Peace, and multiple local government employees and businessmen since October 2012, making it the largest public criminal probe in Eagle Pass and Maverick County history. On February 20, 2015, a federal grand jury in Del Rio, Texas, indicted a County Commissioner and a former County Justice of the Peace in connection to an alleged bribery, kickback and bid-rigging scheme, all related to the ongoing public corruption investigation. On February 23, 2015, former Maverick County Commissioner Rodolfo Heredia was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to perform 1,200 hours of community service after completing his prison term. He was also ordered to pay a maximum of $56,003.88 in restitution to Maverick County.

City of Eagle Pass gasoline card theft and fraud

On August 8, 2012, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court in Del Rio, Texas, indicted five Eagle Pass residents, including a former Public Works Department employee in connection with an estimated $70,000 credit card fraud scheme. According to the indictment, during 2011, City of Eagle Pass employee Edgar Aguilar obtained five city of Eagle Pass-owned “Fuelman” credit cards designated for fuel purchases for Public Works department vehicles and distributed them to his accomplices to purchase fuel for their own vehicles and to purchase fuel for others at the city’s expense. In some instances, defendants charged individuals a reduced rate for fuel purchased using the city’s credit card and then pocketed the cash. On November 29, 2012, Aguilar entered a guilty plea for the charges of theft and fraud and on May 15, 2013, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $68,373.87 in restitution for his role in the fraudulent scheme.

Economic development

The city and surrounding area is home to a variety of businesses in retail, import, food manufacturing, and freight forwarding/transportation. The Eagle Pass Industrial Park hosts a number of larger companies including the O.F. Mossberg & Sons firearms manufacturing plant, which employs around 450 persons.

Eagle Pass is a major entry point for the Los Zetas cartel's drug smuggling operations. Approximately 2,000 pounds of cocaine moves from Mexico to Eagle Pass each month.

Climate

Eagle Pass has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh), typical of South Texas. The average hottest month is August, and the highest recorded temperature was 115 °F (46.1 °C) in 1944. On average, the coolest month is January, while the lowest recorded temperature was 10 °F (−12.2 °C) in 1962. Most precipitation occurs in the spring though fall with a drier Winter. The maximum average precipitation occurs in September.

Geography

Eagle Pass is located at 28°42′38″N 100°29′22″W (28.710622, -100.489331).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.4 mi² (19.2 km²), of which, 7.4 mi² (19.2 km²) of it is land and 0.04 mi² (0.1 km²) of it (0.40%) is covered by water.

The area is served by U.S. Highways 277 and 57, and FM (farm road) 481 . Maverick County Memorial International Airport is a general aviation field, The nearest commercial air service is 50 miles away via the Del Rio International Airport in Del Rio, Texas, which will be served by Texas Sky Airlines in 2016.

Demographics

As of the census of 2006, 24,847 people, 6,925 households, and 5,588 families resided in the city. The population density was 3,030.3 people per square mile (1,169.4/km²). There were 7,613 housing units at an average density of 1,029.3 per square mile (397.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 42.73% White, 0.27% African American, 0.39% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 22.71% from other races, and 3.13% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 96.90% of the population.

Of the 6,925 households, 43.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.3% were not families. About 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.22 and the average family size was 3.69.

In the city, the population was distributed as 32.7% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,623, and for a family was $27,140. Males had a median income of $26,350 versus $17,346 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,414. About 26.0% of families and 29.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.0% of those under age 18 and 39.1% of those age 65 or over.

The majority of the income is attributed to dependence of the community on employment in the public sector.

Nearby cities/communities

Highways

Federal representation

The United States Postal Service operates a post office in located at 455 S Bibb Ave Eagle Pass, TX.

The United States Border Patrol has two stations in Eagle Pass. The Eagle Pass North Station located at 2285 Del Rio Blvd and the Eagle Pass South Station at 4156 El Indio Hwy Eagle Pass, TX.

Eagle Pass is the headquarters of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, a federally recognized tribe of Kickapoo people.

Area newspapers

Education

Eagle Pass is served by the Eagle Pass Independent School District. The district operates 15 elementary schools, two junior high schools, and two high schools, which compete in UIL academics and sports.

Private schools

Elementary schools

Middle schools

High schools

The community is served by branches of four-year Sul Ross University in Alpine, in the form of Rio Grande College, and Southwest Texas Junior College, a two-year community college based in Uvalde.

Notable people

HVDC-back-to-back station

In 2000, as part of the power exchange between Texas and Mexico, a HVDC facility equipped with IGBTs was built. This facility, built for Central Power and Light (now AEP Texas) by the ABB Group, operates at a bipolar voltage of 15.9 kV, and has a maximum transfer rate of 36 megawatts. The power station enables AEP to purchase electricity from Mexico's Comisión Federal de Electricidad, when needed.

Tornado

On April 24, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. CST, a tornado tore through the outside of Eagle Pass and caused loss of life and property damage. The community was paralyzed for more than a week.