First Deep Artesian Well

Water turned La Salle County from a ranching county into a farming one, for a while. Between 1900 and 1910 twenty-three towns were surveyed, among them Artesia Wells and Fowlerton. Vegetables grown on 655 acres were worth almost $129,000 in 1909, and cotton grew from 43 acres in 1900 to 17,753 in 1920. But Fowlerton's artesian water proved unsuitable for crops, and a drought from 1916 to 1918 and a fall in onion prices drove out many small farmers. By 1940 the county had 453 farms and a population of 8,003.

What the plaque says

First Deep Artesian Well For many years, water scarcity stunted settlements in La Salle County. Wells and windmills failed to solve the problem. In 1910 at this site, Joseph Cotulla (1844-1923) explored and brought in artesian water from a depth of 2200 feet. Situated on his own ranch, the well provided amply for his household, livestock, and irrigated fields. His success led the city of Cotulla to bore its own artesian wells and generate prosperous civic growth. Joseph Cotulla's well at this site flowed for 52 years, until capped in 1962. (1978)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Brush Country Museum — steps away
  La Salle County's local museum, with a segregated-schools display that sets the scene for the Welhausen School, where Lyndon Johnson taught Mexican American children in 1928-29.
• Chaparral Wildlife Management Area — 14 mi
  A 15,200-acre South Texas brush country research tract in La Salle and Dimmit counties, open to the public in spring and summer, with a short accessible trail and a long ranching past.

More markers nearby

• Cotulla City Park — steps away
• La Salle County — steps away
• First Presbyterian Church of Cotulla — steps away
• The First United Methodist Church of Cotulla — steps away