Editing Culberson County, Texas (section)

==History==
[[File:CulbersonCountySheriffTX.JPG|thumb|Culberson County Sheriff's Office]]

===Native Americans===
[[Prehistory|Prehistoric]] [[Clovis culture]] peoples<ref>{{cite web|title=Exploring the Past in Trans-Pecos Texas |publisher=Sul Ross University |url=http://www.sulross.edu/cbbs/basics-transpecos.php |author=Mallouf, Robert J. |access-date=April 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527183848/http://www.sulross.edu/cbbs/basics-transpecos.php |archive-date=May 27, 2010}} Texas Beyond History</ref>  in Culberson County lived in the rock shelters and caves nestled near water supplies. These people left behind artifacts and [[Pictogram|pictographs]] as evidence of their presence.<ref>{{cite web | title=Artistic Expression | publisher=Texas Beyond History | url=http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/trans-p/artistic/index.html | access-date=April 30, 2010}} Texas Beyond History</ref> With its treacherous topography, the area remained untouched by white explorations for centuries.

[[Suma-Jumano|Jumano Indians]] led the [[Antonio de Espejo]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=de Espejo, Antonio| id= fes03| author=Blake, Robert Bruce| retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> 1582-1583 expedition near Toyah Lake on a better route to the farming and trade area of La Junta de los Ríos. Espejo's diary places the Jumano along the [[Pecos River]] and its tributaries.<ref>{{cite web | title=Who Were The Jumano? | publisher=Texas Beyond History | url=http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/trans-p/peoples/who.html | access-date=April 30, 2010}} Texas Beyond History</ref>

Antonio de Espejo was also the first white person to see the [[Mescalero|Mescalero Apache]] just east of the [[Guadalupe Mountains]]. The Mescalero <ref>{{cite web | title=Texas Indians Map | publisher=R E. Moore and Texarch Associates | url=http://www.texasindians.com/map2.htm |access-date=April 30, 2010}} R E. Moore and Texarch Associates</ref> frequented the area to irrigate their crops. In 1849, [[John Salmon Ford|John Salmon "Rip" Ford]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Ford, John Salmon| id= ffo11| author=Connor, Seymour V | retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> explored the area between [[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]] and [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]], noting in his mapped report the productive land upon which the Mescalero Indians farmed. By the mid-17th century, the Mescaleros expanded their territory to the Plains [[Navajo people|Navajos]] and [[Puebloan peoples|Pueblos]] from the Guadalupes, and [[El Paso|El Paso del Norte]]. Their feared presence in the area deterred white settlers. In January 1870, a group of soldiers attacked a Mescalero Apache village near Delaware Creek in the Guadalupe Mountains. In July 1880, soldiers at Tinaja de las Palmas attacked a group of Mescaleros led by [[Victorio|Chief Victorio]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Chief Victorio | publisher=King Snake | author=Stout, Joseph A. | url=http://www.kingsnake.com/hudspeth/victorio.htm |access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref> August 1880, [[buffalo soldiers]] ambushed Victorio at Rattlesnake Springs. Victorio retreated to Mexico and was killed in October by Mexican soldiers.<ref>{{cite web| title=Victorio's War| publisher=Buffalo Soldier| author=Davis, Stanford L.| url=http://www.buffalosoldier.net/BuffaloSoldiers&ChiefVictorio.htm| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921033654/http://www.buffalosoldier.net/BuffaloSoldiers%26ChiefVictorio.htm| archive-date=September 21, 2007}} Stanford L. Davis, M.A.</ref>

===Explorations===
The demand for new routes from Texas to California caused an uptick in explorations.<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Culberson County | id= hcc28| author=Kohout, Martin Donell| retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association.</ref> The San Antonio-to-El Paso leg of the San Antonio-California Trail was surveyed in 1848 under the direction of [[John Coffee Hays]].

Texas Commissioner [[Robert Simpson Neighbors]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Neighbors, Robert Simpson| id= fne08| author=Richardson, Rupert N | retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historic</ref> was sent by [[Peter Hansborough Bell|Governor Peter Hansborough Bell]] in 1850 to organize El Paso.

Lt. Francis Theodore Bryan<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Bryan, Francis Theodore| id= fbral| author=Powell, William S | retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> camped at [[Guadalupe Pass (Texas)|Guadalupe Pass]] while exploring a route from San Antonio to El Paso via [[Fredericksburg, Texas|Fredericksburg]]. Upon reaching El Paso in July 1849, his report recommended sink wells along the route. In July 1848, Secretary of War [[William L. Marcy]] wanted a military post established on the north side of the [[Rio Grande]]. Major [[Jefferson Van Horne]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Van Horne, Jefferson| id=fva08| author=Kohout, Martin Donell | retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> was sent out in 1849 to establish Marcy's goal.

[[John Russell Bartlett]],<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Bartlett, John Russell | id=fba93| author=Faulk, Odie B| retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Bartlett, John Russell | publisher=The John Russell Bartlett Society | url=http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/jrb/about.html | access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref> was commissioned in 1850 to carry out the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]]. Bartlett declared the [[Guadalupe Mountains]] dark and gloomy, and proposed a transcontinental railroad be built south of the peaks. Three years later, Captain [[John Pope (general)|John Pope]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Pope, John | id=fpo16| author=Cutrer, Thomas W| retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> was sent to scout out a railroad route, and in the succeeding year to search for artesian water supplies.

The [[San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line]] and the [[Butterfield Overland Mail]]<ref>{{cite web | title=San Antonio-San Diego Mail | publisher=State of California Parks Department | url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24437|access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref> both serviced the area 1857–1861. These mail coaches provided a means for travelers to reach California in 27 days if the passenger had the $200 for a one-way fare and was courageous enough to withstand the weather and dangers en route.<ref>{{cite web | title=San Antonio-California Trail | publisher=Texas Historical Marker | url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5109012657 | access-date=April 30, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314204838/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5109012657 | archive-date=March 14, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Rival railway companies began competing for rights of way. The [[Texas and Pacific Railway]]<ref>{{cite web | title=Texas and Pacific Railway | publisher=Texas and Pacific Railway| url=http://www.texaspacificrailway.org/structures/tx/el-paso |access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref>  and the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway<ref>{{cite web | title=Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway | publisher=Texas Transportation Museum | url=http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/Sunset.htm | access-date=April 30, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930190318/http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/Sunset.htm | archive-date=September 30, 2011 | url-status=dead}}</ref> eventually reached an agreement to share the tracks.

===County established and growth===
[[File:VanHornCityCountyLibrary.JPG|thumb|Van Horn City-County Library]]
Culberson County was established in 1911 from [[El Paso County, Texas|El Paso County]] and named after [[David B. Culberson]].<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Culberson, David Browning | id=fcu03| author=Hooker, Anne W| retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> The county was organized in 1912. [[Van Horn, Texas|Van Horn]] became the county seat.<ref>{{cite web |title=Van Horn, Texas |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Van_Horn/Van_Horn_Texas.htm |access-date=April 30, 2010 |publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC.}} Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC.</ref>

With the opening of the railways, ranchers began to settle in the county.  [[Lobo, Texas|Lobo]] was settled in part due to misrepresentation by promoters. A class-action lawsuit by the residents forced the promoters to build the Lobo Hotel. Unfortunately, the area was struck by two powerful earthquakes<ref>{{Cite web|title=Texas Earthquakes |publisher=Institute for Geophysics |url=http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/eq/faq/tx.htm |access-date=April 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403121736/http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/eq/faq/tx.htm |archive-date=April 3, 2010}}</ref> - one in 1929, and the 6.0 quake near [[Valentine, Texas|Valentine]] that was felt as far away as [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]]. The hotel was destroyed.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Lobo, Texas | publisher=Lobo, Texas | url=http://www.lobo-texas.com/lobohome/en/history.php | access-date=April 30, 2010 | archive-date=May 22, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522033537/http://www.lobo-texas.com/lobohome/en/history.php | url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Guadalupe Mountains National Park]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guadalupe Mountains National Park | publisher=National Park Service | url=http://www.nps.gov/gumo/historyculture/index.htm |access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Guadalupe Mountains National Park | id=gkg02| author=Maliszkiewctz, Mark | retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> was established in 1972.  [[Lyndon B. Johnson|President Lyndon B. Johnson]] signed the 1966 legislation to create the park. Stipulation was made that all mineral, oil, and gas rights had to be ceded to the federal government.

===Space exploration===
[[Blue Origin]], the space vehicle development company founded by [[Jeff Bezos]], maintains a suborbital launch site about 25 miles north of Van Horn, Texas.