Los Preseños, TX

Los Preseños was a Mexican ranch settlement about two miles east of the site of what is now Alice in Jim Wells County. It was started by Marcelino López of Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, in 1831 after he applied in Camargo for title to the land on August 2, 1831. The grant consisted of four sitios along San Fernando Creek and was part of the huge original San Fernando grant. By June 23, 1832, López had improved his grant to the extent that he received title to the land. The first settlers there were herders, who built their jacales near the southeast corner of the grant along San Fernando Creek, about two miles east of what is now Alice. In 1849 the trade route from Corpus Christi to Laredo passed through Los Preseños. The route, established by Henry Lawrence Kinney and William Leslie Cazneau, later also ran to Eagle Pass. Although no great houses were ever built at Los Preseños, the settlement was known to travelers as a place where food could be found. Settlers established a trading post, which was frequented by mustangers and sometimes raided by Indians. It existed until the community of Collins was established in 1878. Father Claude C. Jaillet recorded a yellow fever epidemic there in 1867.