She Came to the Valley

Originally published in 1943, SHE CAME TO THE VALLEY by Cleo Dawson became an instant bestseller. It is a story of the visions and successes, the heartbreaks and joys of pioneers who established the Texas-Mexican Border town of Mission Texas. Many of the incidents recounted in this book actually happened in the area at the time when thousands of “homeseekers” found in the rich Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas a place to start a new and challenging life for their families in the first decade and a half of the Twentieth Century.

One such family was that of Ed and Willy Dawson and their two little girls who arrived by covered wagon through the brush country between “the Valley” and Laredo. At that time, Mission was near the end of the western end of the railroad whose beacon attracted those pioneer dreamers. Markets would now be possible for the fruits and vegetables growing in the lush Delta formed by thousands of years in the flow of the Rio Grande on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

A delightful read, SHE CAME TO THE VALLEY aims to provide a new generation an appreciation of their heritage from those early pioneers.