Presidio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,131. Its county seat is Marfa. The county was created in 1850 and later organized in 1875. Presidio County (K-5 in Texas topological index of counties) is in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas and is named for the border settlement of Presidio del Norte. It is on the Rio Grande, which forms the Mexican border.
History
Native Americans
Paleo-Indians (hunter-gatherers) existed thousands of years ago on the Trans-Pecos, and often did not adapt to culture clashes, European diseases, and colonization. The Masames tribe was exterminated by the Tobosos, circa 1652. The Nonojes suffered from clashes with the Spanish and merged with the Tobosos. The Spanish made slave raids to the La Junta de los Ríos, committing cruelties against the native population. The Suma-Jumano tribe sought to align themselves with the Spanish for survival. The tribe later merged with the Apache people. Foraging peoples who did not survive the 18th century include the Chisos, Mansos, Jumanos, Conchos, Julimes, Cibolos, Tobosos, Sumas, Cholomes, Caguates, Nonojes, Cocoyames, and Acoclames.
Early explorations and settlements
The entrada of Juan Domínguez de Mendoza and Father Nicolás López in 1683–84 set out from El Paso to La Junta, where they established seven missions at seven pueblos. In 1683, Father López celebrated the first Christmas Mass in Texas at La Junta.
In 1832, José Ygnacio Ronquillo was issued a conditional land grant, and established the county's first white settlement on Cibolo Creek. Military obligations forced him to abandon the settlement, and he then sold the land.
The Chihuahua Trail connecting Mexico's state of Chihuahua with Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened in 1839.
By 1848, Ben Leaton built Fort Leaton, sometimes called the largest adobe structure in Texas, on the river as his home, trading post, and private bastion. Leaton died in debt in 1851, with the fort passing to the holder of the mortgage, John Burgess. In 1934, T. C. Mitchell and the Marfa State Bank acquired the old structure and donated it to the county as a historic site. The park was opened to the public in 1978.
Milton Faver became the county's first cattle baron. In 1857, he moved his family to Chinati Mountains in the county. Milton Faver bought small tracts of land around three springs-Cibolo, Cienega, and La Morita and established cattle ranches. He built Fort Cienega and Fort Cibolo.
County established and growth
Presidio County was established from Bexar County on January 3, 1850. Fort Leaton became the county seat. The county was organized in 1875 as the largest county in the United States, with . Fort Davis was named the county seat. The boundaries and seat of Presidio County were changed in the 1880s. Marfa was established in 1883, and the county seat was moved there from Fort Davis in 1885.
In 1854, the army built Fort Davis in northern Presidio County. Fort Davis closed during the Civil War and reopened in 1867. The black population increased to 489 when Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at Fort Davis.
John W. Spencer, a local rancher and trader, found a silver deposit in the Chinati Mountains in 1880 that resulted in the opening of Presidio Mine and the beginning of the company town of Shafter. From 1883 until 1942, the mine produced over 32.6 million ounces of silver.
The railroad reached Presidio County in 1882, when the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway laid tracks through its northeastern corner.
W. F. Mitchell built the first barbed wire fence in the county at Antelope Springs in 1888. The widespread use of barbed wire resulted in the refinement of cattle breeds, improvement of ranges, and innovative use of water supplies.
Windmills, water wells, and earthen tanks were introduced on Presidio County ranches in the late 1880s.
Elephant Butte Dam was built in 1910 on the Rio Grande, creating a large, reliable irrigation source for the county.