Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this morning, I would like to highlight one of the really interesting towns of west Texas as we continue to journey through the 23rd District, which encompasses nearly 24 percent of the land area of Texas, some 800 miles from one end of the district to the other. With a population of over 800 people, Sanderson, Texas, is known as the Cactus Capital of Texas. It was originally named Strawbridge or Strobridge, and Sanderson was founded as a switching point for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1882, a roundhouse was built there, and the name of the town was changed to Sanderson, after Thomas P. Sanderson, who was the engineer in charge of construction. In the following year, in 1883, a post office opened in Sanderson. In Texas lore, there is a very famous person by the name of Roy Bean who was known as the Law West of the Pecos. Judge Roy Bean, wanting to capitalize on the new town with a lot of promise, opened a saloon in Sanderson in the early 1880s, but he couldn't compete with Charlie Wilson's Cottage Bar Saloon. After Bean opened his saloon, Wilson allegedly spiked the whiskey with coal oil. Judge Bean soon had to move eastward to Vinegarroon and Langtry, and Sanderson was dubbed as being ``too mean for Bean.'' Those were the years of railroad workers and cowboys which filled the area. At the turn of the century, in 1905, the once unruly Sanderson became the county seat of the newly-created Terrell County, and it remains the county seat even to this day.…”