Los Federales

Los Olmos, a dispersed community also known as Paisano, is northeast of Falfurrias near the junction of Farm roads 1418 and 2191 in northeastern Brooks County. The community takes its name from a local ranch. Los Olmos, the oldest settlement in Brooks County, was founded around 1830 when the El Paisano land grant was given to Ramón de la Garza by the state of Tamaulipas. It served as a stop on the stage line between Santa Gertrudis and Rio Grande City. The Garza family still occupied the grant in 1990. In 1880 the heirs deeded an acre of land for a public school. That same year a post office, stores, and a school were in operation. The Los Olmos post office closed in 1882; a post office by the name of Paisano, however, operated at the site from 1884 until 1905. In the early 1890s Los Olmos was also known as Los Federales. Los Olmos reached a peak between 1892 and 1897, when it had an estimated population of 240 to 300, a general store, and the only school in the region. In 1892 the community had five general stores, 200 residents, and a county commissioner. In 1896 a doctor, a carpenter, a shoemaker, and well-diggers served the town. Claude Jaillet and John P. Bard came from the Diocese of Monterrey, Nuevo León, to minister to the people. Faith-healer Pedro (Don Pedrito) Jaramillo also aided in drawing people to the area. As neighboring Falfurrias prospered, however, Los Olmos declined. A railroad reached Falfurrias in 1903. In 1904 Los Olmos had an estimated population of 148. In 1948 there were several dwellings, a cemetery, and a school in the area. By 1982 only a few dwellings and the cemetery remained.