Between the Texas Revolution and the Mexican Warqqv most of what is now La Salle County lay in the disputed area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River. Since neither the Republic of Texasqv nor the Mexican government could establish control over this strip of land, it became a haven for desperados. Even after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgoqv definitively assigned the Nueces Strip to Texas, outlaws and hostile Indians delayed the development of the area for years. When La Salle County was officially formed from the Bexar District on February 1, 1858, the county had only begun to be settled. La Salle County was named for René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. La Salle County was formally organized in 1880 with Stuart's Rancho, near Guajoco, designated its first seat of government. In a special county election held in 1883, voters chose to make Cotulla the county seat. -Handbook of Texas Online: La Salle County (check spelling LaSalle)