In 1895 John and Mary Cator came to Texas to start a new life
and a family. In 1896 they did just that and produced Prevar
Irving, or Prevar I Cator. Prevar grew to be healthy and
intelligent, but had a habit of getting into trouble.
Prevar I. Cator
By the time he as a young teen, his father had established
himself as owner of one of the biggest cattle ranches in town. This
didn't stop Prevar from ascending the water tower at the train
depot and painting "Sheep will be our salvation." This nearly
started a range war among the local ranchers and the few sheep
herders.
Being the intelligent individual that he was, he read about
nitro glycerin and proceeded to make some. He placed a minute
amount near the railroad tracks a few miles out of town and hid in
a grouping of trees not too far away. Unbeknownst to him a pair of
desperadoes intended to rob the train of its gold shipment.
When the train came into sight the villains were galloping
beside the train. As luck would have it, the nitro was placed in
such a position that the rumbling of the train caused it to
explode. The explosion caused no damage to the train or tracks, but
blew outward and the debris disabled both of the would-be train
robbers.
By the time the train stopped and the engineers got back to the
robbers, Prevar had both men tied up. He told everyone that he was
looking for a place to test his recent chemical explosive, saw the
robbers and hurled his container of nitro towards them. He took
full credit for stopping the robbery and became the hero of the
town.
Of course the town wanted to honor him, so they named their town
after him. That is how Irving got its name.