[5] Archeologist T. C. Hill of Crystal City conducted excavations in 1972–1973 at the site, uncovering artifacts.

More than 100 archeological sites have been identified by researchers of the University of Texas at San Antonio at the Chaparrosa Ranch.

[6] The area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River, which included Zavala County, became disputed territory known as the Wild Horse Desert, where neither the Republic of Texas nor the Mexican government had clear control.

Seven other people (including two women — Juana Fuentes and Maria Escolastica Diaz) — each had 4,650 acres.

[14] Ike T. La Pryor the largest ranch in the county and advertised the land for farming.

[15] Developers E. J. Buckingham and Carl Groos purchased all 96,101 acres (388.91 km2) of the Cross S Ranch in 1905, platted the town of Crystal City, and sold the rest as sections divided into 10-acre (40,000 m2) farms.

[16] Zavala, Dimmitt, Frio, and LaSalle Counties are considered the Winter Garden region of Texas.

[17] Irrigation and mild winter climate have made the area ideal for year-round vegetable farming.

[18] The first annual Spinach Festival was introduced in 1936, halted during World War II, but resumed in 1982.

[19] Cartoonist E. C. Segar, who created the spinach-eating Popeye, received a letter of appreciation from the Winter Garden Chamber of Commerce, thanking him for his support of spinach in the American diet.

He later approved a 1937 statue of Popeye to be erected in Crystal City, dedicated "To All The Children of the World".

The principal crops grown in Zavala County in 1989 were spinach, cotton, pecans, corn, and onions.

The first internees, of German ethnicity, arrived on December 12, 1942, and were expected to work on construction, being paid 10 cents an hour.

[21] The Mexican Revolution that began in 1910 resulted in thousands of laborers flowing across the border to cultivate vegetable crops.

[22] Juan Cornejo of the Teamsters Union and the Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations organized the Hispanic population among cannery workers and farm laborers of Crystal City in 1962–63 and succeeded in electing an all-Latino city council.

[23][24] The Raza Unida Party was established in 1970 in Crystal City and Zavala County to bring greater self-determination among Tejanos.