Laredo, Texas - The Color of Culture

Streets of Laredo

by Francis Henry Maynard (1876)

As I walked out in the streets of Laredo,

As I walked out in Laredo one day,

I spied a young cowboy wrapped up in white linen,

Wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay.

" Oh beat the drums slowly and play the fife lowly;

Sing the Death March as you carry me along.

Take me to the valley, there lay the sod o'er me,

I'm a young cowboy and know I´ve done wrong."

" I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy."

These words he did say as I boldly walked by.

" Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story;

Got shot in the breast and I know I must die!"

"My friends and relations they live in the Nation:

They know not where their dear boy has gone.

I first came to Texas and hired to a ranchman,

O I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."

"It was once in the saddle I used to go dashing:

It was once in the saddle I used to go gay.

First to the dram house and then to the card house,

Got shot in the breast and I'm dying today."

"Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin;

Get six pretty maidens to sing me a song.

Put bunches of roses all over my coffin,

Put roses to deaden the cods as they fall."

"Go gather around you a group of young cowboys,

And tell them the story of this my sad fate.

Tell one and the other before they go further,

To stop their wild roving before it's too late."

"Go fetch me some water, a cool cup of water

To cool my parched lips," then the poor cowboy said.

Before I returned his spirit had left him

Had gone to his Maker, the cowboy was dead.

We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly,

And bitterly wept as we bore him along.

For awe all loved our comrade, so brave, young, and handsome,

We all loved our comrade although he'd done wrong.

Gateway to Mexico

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Regions:

Rio Grande Valley

250 Years of History

Laredo is a land of many cultures. The colors, flavors and sounds of Laredo, are the product of its rich, pioneering heritage. You'll find a little bit of Texas and a little bit of Mexico in this popular border town, blended into what visitors come to enjoy as the flavor of Laredo.

Long known as the Gateway to Mexico, Laredo, Texas sits on the banks of the Rio Grande, just across the river from its sister city Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Visitors enjoy the convenience of being able to park in downtown Laredo and walk to the tourist district in Nuevo Laredo.

Laredo was founded on the north bank of the Rio Grande on May 15, 1755, when Captain Tomás Sánchez, with three families, was granted permission to settle 15 leagues of land near an Indian ford on the Rio Grande. Operated as a family rancho, the Sánchez estate ran cattle, sheep, goats, horses, mules and oxen. In 1767, the city was laid out, and in the years to follow, ranching became the sustenance of the colony.

The Spanish settlement became a Mexican city in 1821 when Mexico gained it independence from Spain, and, during the early 1800s, a trading economy developed as cattle hides and wool were traded south in exchange for food and household necessities. However, trade was disrupted and many ranchos were wiped out by the raids of the Comanche and Apache Indians.

Disgruntled with the Mexican centralist government's rule by dictatorship and its complacency in defending the northern frontier from Indian attack, many Laredoans supported the constitutional convention which created the Republic of the Rio Grande on January 7, 1840. Laredo became a capital of the new republic which attempted to unite Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and parts of South Texas. After several skirmishes with the Mexican army, the short-lived republic came to an end, enduring only 283 days. Although the Republic of Texas, which had won its independence from Mexico in 1836, attempted to claim Laredo, its citizens remained loyal to Mexico after the defeat of the Republic of the Rio Grande.

In 1845, the annexation of Texas by the United States led to the declaration of war against Mexico. Shortly after the fall of Mexico, the Rio Grande was declared the boundary between the United States and Mexico. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Laredo officially became part of Texas. Mexicans who wanted to retain their citizenship moved across the river. This area previously settled as part of Laredo was named Nuevo Laredo in 1848. An estimated 120 refugee families planted their roots and grew to a population of around 2,000 in the 1870s.

Known today as the city under seven flags, Laredo has emerged as one of the principal ports of entry into Mexico. As the second fastest growing city in the nation, this border metropolis has greatly benefited from the well-planned, historic "Streets of Laredo," and its urban core continues to be reinvigorated as commercial areas and neighborhoods make the "Gateway City" their home.

For more information, visit the official Laredo Web site.

Material on this page was taken from the history of Laredo, presented by the Laredo Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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