Irrigation Project
"God built the San Benito canal and Sam Robertson put the water in it."
Before the railroad reached the Valley, Robertson had been fully aware of the potential of the alluvial soil under irrigation. He recognized the tract he wanted when his crews were laying the trestle across the dry resaca which he envisioned as his (San Benito's) main irrigation canal. He was ready to exchange his roving life as contractor for the role of land developer.
With no more than a handshake to seal their agreement, he obtained an option from James L. Landrum and Oliver Hicks to buy 13,000 acres from the Stephen Powers estate for $40,000. Being strapped for cash after completing construction of the branch railroad from Harlingen to Sam Fordyce, he borrowed the $15,000 deposit and took other contracts to earn the balance. Rains forced costly delays. It seemed inevitable that once again he was "going to lose his shirt." He wrote to Adele, his wife, in Brownsville to pay all debts and to release the option, now two years old.
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Almost overnight the weather improved and he finished the job with funds that could have saved his development project. He did not learn until he reached home that Mrs.Robertson had not canceled his option, and that laborers supervised by Oliver Hicks had continued grubbing brush and cactus from the old resaca bed.
Continuing his development on "nerve" and "jawbone," Robertson interested a group of entrepreneurs in organizing the San Benito Land & Water Company with $500,000 capital and a district embracing 68,000 acres. The investors were the three Heywood brothers, Alba, 0. W. and W. Scott, R. L. Batts, E. F. Rowson and W. H. Stenger.
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The Heywood brothers, a former professional troupe of comedians, had hit it rich at Spindletop. Alba built a neo-classic brick home facing the city park where his son, Alba, Jr., was born December 8, 1908. (Present site of 1st Baptist Church on Heywood Street.) It was called a "Model Farm" for the people from up north to visit. |
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A few months earlier water pumped from the Rio Grande flowed into the old resaca, now San Benito's main canal. Built with a system of locks, it was 250 feet wide and 37 miles long, including a short man-made channel connecting with the river. A distinctive feature of the project has been aptly stated by someone who said: "God built the San Benito canal and Sam Robertson put the water in it."
Robertson already had set up a telephone exchange and organized and built a sugar mill with 1,000-ton capacity near Brownsville (later owned by Blaylock, Ohio & Texas Co.) He promoted a cannery, an ice factory and other industrial projects. The ice plant became the Valley's first facility for icing refrigerator cars.