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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Citizens of Loving County are assembling at the |
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State Capitol on March 31, 2011, to celebrate the importance of |
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their home to the history of the Lone Star State; and |
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WHEREAS, The geographically smallest county in the Permian |
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Basin, Loving County lies to the east of the Pecos River in the |
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Chihuahuan Desert along the Texas-New Mexico border; its 671 square |
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miles of plains and rolling hills were carved out of Tom Green |
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County in 1887 and named in honor of Oliver Loving, an early Texas |
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cattleman; organized in 1893, the county was deorganized by the |
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state legislature four years later and attached to Reeves County; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, In 1931, Loving County became the only Texas county |
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to be organized twice; its fortunes had risen with the discovery of |
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oil in the 1920s and the founding of the town of Ramsey; new |
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residents came to the community from the nearby settlement of |
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Porterville and beyond; as the county seat, Ramsey was soon given |
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the name of Mentone, which originally designated the old, abandoned |
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county seat 12 miles to the north; the historic Loving County |
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Courthouse was built in Mentone in 1936; and |
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WHEREAS, Cattle ranching has remained an important part of |
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the county's economy since the 1800s, but oil and gas production are |
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the primary industry; Mentone, the only town, serves as a supply |
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center for neighboring oil fields; its population of about a dozen |
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is roughly the same as when the county was first founded, and Loving |
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County, with 82 people, ranks as the least populated in the nation; |
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the wide-open spaces of Western songs are no mere memory here, and |
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the abundant wildlife includes quail, deer, javelinas, bobcats, |
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coyotes, and armadillos; and |
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WHEREAS, Loving County retains the rugged beauty and ranching |
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traditions of our state's pioneer days, and its residents can |
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indeed take pride in the uniqueness of their county and its |
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heritage; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize March 31, 2011, as Loving County Day |
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at the State Capitol and extend to the visiting delegation sincere |
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best wishes for a meaningful and memorable stay in Austin. |