Editing Brewster County, Texas (section)

==History==

===Native Americans===
[[Paleo-Indian]] [[hunter-gatherers]] existed in the region at least 9000 years ago. [[Mescalero|Mescalaro Apaches]] emerged later and conducted raids that discouraged settlers. Between 1779 and 1787, [[Juan de Ugalde|Col. Juan de Ugalde]] drove the Mescalaros back north across the Rio Grande and into the [[Chisos Mountains]]. The three leading Mescalero chiefs, Patula Grande, Quemado, and Zapato Tuerto, agreed in March 1789 to submit to Spanish rule.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mescalero Apache History and Culture |url=http://www.mescaleroapache.com/area/history_and_cul.htm |publisher=Mescalero Apache Telecom, Inc. |access-date=December 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714074552/http://www.mescaleroapache.com/area/history_and_cul.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2011  }}</ref> [[Comanche]] raiding parties continued through much of the 19th century.<ref name="Brewster County, Texas">{{cite web |last=Kohout |first=Martin Donell |title=Brewster County, Texas |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcb14 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 12, 2010 }}</ref>

===Early explorations===
[[File:FouquieriaSplendens 2006 BigBend.jpg|thumb|260 px|Chihuahuan Desert landscape in Brewster County]]
Spanish explorers [[Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca]] in 1535 and [[Antonio de Espejo]] in 1583 crossed Brewster County on their way to La Junta de los Ríos, the junction of the [[Rio Grande]] and the [[Conchos River|Rio Conchos]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Folsom |first=Bradley |title=La Junta de los Ríos |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ryl01 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |date=July 23, 2015 |access-date=December 13, 2010}}</ref>

In 1684, [[Juan Domínguez de Mendoza]] camped at Kokernot Spring and wrote the earliest recorded description of it.<ref name="Kokernot Spring">{{cite web |last=Kohout |first=Martin Donell |title=Kokernot Spring |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rpk02 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref>

[[Pedro de Rábago y Terán]], [[Governor of Coahuila]] in the 1740s, led an expedition to La Junta de los Ríos.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chipman |first=Donald E |title=Pedro de Rábago y Terán |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fra02 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref>

Northern Mexican military governor Lt. Col. Hugo Oconór led a 1772 expedition to locate sites for forts on the [[Comanche Trail]] along the Rio Grande.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blake |first=Robert Bruce |title=Hugo Oconór |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/foc04 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Comanche Trail |url=http://www.nps.gov/bibe/historyculture/comanche_trail.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=December 13, 2010}}</ref>

In October 1851, [[Danish people|Danish]]-born Col. Edvard Emil Langberg, Mexican commandant of [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], visited southern Brewster County.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hewitt |first=Harry P |title=Edvard Emil (Emilio) Langberg |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/flapv |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref>

Surveyor [[William H. Emory]] in 1852 sent M. T. W. Chandler to survey what is now the heart of Big Bend National Park. Chandler explored Santa Elena Canyon, the Chisos Mountains Mariscal Canyon, and Boquillas Canyon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Klepper |first=Dan |title=100 Classic Hikes Texas: Panhandle Plains / Pineywoods / Gulf Coast / South Texas Plains / Hill Country / Big Bend Country / Prairies & Lakes |year=2009 |publisher=Mountaineers Books |isbn=978-1-59485-075-2 |pages=170–172}}</ref>

An 1859 expedition of the [[U.S. Camel Corps]] under 2d Lt. Edward L. Hartz explored the Comanche Trail through Persimmon Gap and down Tornillo Creek to the Rio Grande. A year later, a second camel expedition under 2d Lt. William Echols also explored along the Rio Grande.<ref name="Brewster County, Texas"/>

===County established and growth===
[[File:PresidioAndNewCounties1888.jpg|thumb|Map of Presidio County, Texas and the counties of Brewster, Buchel, Foley, and Jeff Davis created from Presidio in 1887: Buchel and Foley were abolished and joined to Brewster in 1897.]]
Brewster County was marked off in 1887 from [[Presidio County, Texas|Presidio County]] and named for [[Henry Percy Brewster]]. Murphyville, later renamed Alpine, was selected as county seat.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alpine, Texas |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/WestTexasTowns/AlpineTexas/AlpineTexas.htm |work=Texas Escapes |publisher=Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC |access-date=December 13, 2010}}</ref>

In response to threats of ongoing Indian attacks, [[Post Park|Camp Peña Colorado]] was established in 1879 a few miles south of the future site of Marathon.<ref>{{cite web |last=Thompson |first=Richard A |title=Camp Pena Colorado |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qcc48 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 12, 2010 }}</ref>

Word of mouth about the open rangeland in the area was spread by freighters John W Burgess and August Santleben, leading the way for settlers.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ochoa |first=Ruben E |title=August Santleben |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsa31 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref>

The [[Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway]] built through the area in 1882, opening up opportunity for entrepreneurs who came on railroad-related business and stayed.<ref>{{cite web |last=Werner |first=George C |title=Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqg06 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref>

[[Alfred S. Gage]] moved to the area in 1882 to help his brother's ranching operation, founding the [[A. S. Gage Ranch]], one of the largest ranching operations in Texas, in 1883. In 1927, he built the Gage Hotel in [[Marathon, Texas|Marathon]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Kohout |first=Martin Donell |title=Alfred Stevens Gage |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgapm |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kohout |first=Martin Donell |title=A. S. Gage Ranches |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/apaps |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 9, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ramos |first=Mary G |title=Compass American Guides: Texas, 3rd Edition |year=2004 |publisher=Compass America Guides |isbn=978-0-676-90502-1 |author2=Reavis, Dick |author3=Vandivier, Kevin |page=66}}</ref>

Legendary lawman and later [[Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum|Texas Rangers Hall of Fame]] member [[James B. Gillett]] served as sheriff of Brewster County, and operated a ranch in Alpine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He later retired to his Barrel Spring Ranch in [[Jeff Davis County, Texas|Jeff Davis County]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Metz |first=Leon Claire |title=The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters |year=2002 |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=978-0-8160-4543-3 |pages=94–95}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=James Buchanan Gillett 1856–1937 |url=http://www.texasranger.org/halloffame/Gillette_James.htm |work=Texas Ranger Hall of Fame |publisher=Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum |access-date=December 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Skelton |first=Bart |title=A Ranch Fit For A Ranger |url=http://www.gunsandammo.com/content/a-ranch-fit-for-a-ranger |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125135535/http://www.gunsandammo.com/content/a-ranch-fit-for-a-ranger |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 25, 2013 |publisher=Guns & Ammo |access-date=December 13, 2010 }}</ref>

Joseph Daniel Jackson came to the area in 1882 as part of Company B of the [[Texas Rangers Division|Texas Rangers]] assigned to protect the railroad. By 1882, he had settled near Alpine and taken up ranching, branching out later to become a merchant and civic leader. Jackson is known locally as the father of [[Sul Ross University]] due to his efforts that helped lead to the establishment of the school.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kohout |first=Martin Donell |title=Joseph Daniel Jackson |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fja10 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref>  Sul Ross University, named for [[Lawrence Sullivan Ross|Texas Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross]], was created by an act of the 35th Legislature in 1917 as a state normal college to train teachers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Peterson's |title=Colleges in the South: Compare Colleges in Your Region |year=2008 |publisher=Peterson's |isbn=978-0-7689-2695-8 |page=194}}</ref>

===Population boom===
The population grew from 710 in 1890 to 5,220 in 1910 due for the most part to industries that relied on natural resources.<ref name="Brewster County, Texas"/>

From the turn of the 20th century through [[World War II]], the Terlingua Mining District, west of the Chisos Mountains, was a boom town due to the extraction of [[cinnabar]], a mercury ore. Silver and lead from mines on the Mexican side of the river in the Boquillas area were shipped north, as were candelilla wax produced at factories at Glenn Spring and Mariscal, and the guayule rubber from a factory in Marathon.<ref>{{cite web |title=Terlingua |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/WestTexasTowns/TerlinguaTexas/TerlinguaTx.htm |work=Texas Escapes |publisher=Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC |access-date=December 13, 2010}}</ref>

===Pancho Villa and ''banditos''===
Brewster County became targeted by incursions of bandits from Mexico, inspired at least in part by [[Pancho Villa]]. In June 1915, [[James E. Ferguson|Governor James E. Ferguson]] asked [[Woodrow Wilson|President Woodrow Wilson]] to station troops in the Big Bend. The request was denied by [[Frederick Funston|Maj. Gen. Frederick Funston]], who believed such security was a state issue. Although a number of events took place to effect policy change, the tipping point was the May 5, 1916, raid at Glenn Spring. Only nine soldiers had been stationed in the area for protection against the bandits. Estimates vary as to the number of Mexican raiders who attacked the soldiers, from 60 to several hundred. The raid caused a larger military presence in the area. President Wilson mobilized the [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] to reinforce the Army, and by the end of 1916, an estimated 116,957 guardsmen were stationed along the border from [[California]] to Texas. As the mines and wax factories played out after [[World War I]], raids from across the border abated.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kohout |first=Martin Donell |title=Glenn Spring Raid |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jcgdu |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=December 13, 2010|date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref>

===Big Bend===
The geographic region known as the [[Big Bend (Texas)|Big Bend]] is a loosely defined section of the Trans-Pecos, although generally agreed to comprise its more southern portions. Characterized by an extremely rugged, arid [[Chihuahuan Desert]] landscape, the region takes its name from the sharp northeastward turn made by the Rio Grande nearby. Often noted for its stark beauty, the Big Bend was described by the historian [[Walter Prescott Webb]] as "the finest example of earth-wreckage in Texas".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nelson|first=Barney|title=God's Country or Devil's Playground|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-292-75580-2|location=Austin, TX|pages=66}}</ref> It was for this reason that a national park was to be established in the region.

[[Big Bend National Park]] was established as a state park in 1933 by the state legislature, and expanded the same year by [[Miriam Ferguson|Governor Miriam A. Ferguson]]. In 1935, the [[United States Congress]] passed legislation founding it as a national park. Big Bend opened to the public in 1944.<ref>{{cite web |title=Big Bend |url=http://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=December 13, 2010}}</ref> At just over 800,000 acres, it is the fourteenth largest national park in the United States and is larger than the state of [[Rhode Island]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Melroy|first=Jennifer|date=August 7, 2020|title=A complete break down of the U.S. National Parks by Size|url=https://nationalparkobsessed.com/national-parks-by-size/|access-date=October 30, 2020|website=National Park Obsessed}}</ref>

[[Big Bend Ranch State Park (Texas)|Big Bend Ranch State Park]] (located partially in [[Presidio County, Texas|Presidio County]]) opened to the public in 1991; at {{convert|300000|acre|km2}}, it is the largest state park in Texas.<ref>{{cite web |title=Big Bend Ranch State Park |url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/big_bend_ranch/visitor_info.phtml |publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department |access-date=December 13, 2010}}</ref>

===Terlingua Chili Cookoffs===
[[Terlingua, Texas|Terlingua]] produced 40% of the nation's [[Mercury (element)|quicksilver]] in 1920, but declining population has since qualified it as a [[List of ghost towns in Texas|ghost town]]. In 1962, ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'' columnist [[Frank X. Tolbert|Francis X. Tolbert]] published his ode to chili ''Bowl of Red'' and founded the Chili Appreciation Society. Fellow columnist Wick Fowler joined in the fun and became a charter member. The World Championship Chili Cookoff at Terlingua began as a tongue-in-cheek challenge between Fowler and humorist [[H. Allen Smith]] in 1967 and has become a November tradition, celebrated across the state and nation. On the first Saturday in November Terlingua now hosts two competing international chili championships: the ''Terlingua International Chili Championship'', and the ''Original Terlingua International Chili Cookoff''.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Patoski |first=Joe Nick |title=Chili Relations |url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/food/chili-relations/ |magazine=Texas Monthly |date=November 1992 |pages=78, 80, 82, 85–86}}</ref>