Van, Van Zandt County
Pioneer nickname appropriate to this area's many freedoms-- particularly from want and fear. (Food was obtained with little effort; and although the Indians fought white men here as late as 1842, the settlers by 1847 slept in the open with no dread of Indians or wild animals.) According to tradition, Van Zandt County (created 1848) also by a legal accident had freedom from sharing debts of its parent county, Henderson-- and was proud of that unusual advantage. Other parts of Texas share "Free State" traditions. An 1826 "Republic of Fredonia" was proclaimed in Nacogdoches and endured for a few weeks. Along the Mexican border, citizens maintained in 1839-1840 the "Republic of the Rio Grande." Because it developed great self-reliance in recurring border troubles, Hidalgo County called itself a republic, 1852-1872. A Panhandle County formed the secessionist "Free State of Ochiltree" in the 1890s. All secessions have been brief. When Texas in 1845 voted to become a part of the United States, it was given (but declined) the right to become five states. Such movements as "The Free State of Van Zandt" soon lost force. Memories of the ten proud years of the Republic give the people unusual loyalty to Texas. (1968)