RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — For nearly a century and a half, the iconic South Texas ranch country windmill has stood sentinel over coastal prairie and chaparral.

Before the introduction of windmills to Texas some 150 years ago, cattle ranching was relegated to areas where a reliable source of water was available.

The arrival of the windmill to remote areas without electricity enabled water to be pumped from beneath the ground with power generated solely from wind.

However, windmills are vanishing across the landscape of the South Texas ranch country.

In recent years, the iconic ranchland windmill spinning furiously to generate power to pump water to thirsty cattle has been replaced by solar pumps.

Windmills are more expensive to maintain than solar pumps, which are also

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