Editing Hays County, Texas (section)

==History==
{{Prose|section|date=December 2013}}

Hays County has been inhabited for thousands of years. Evidence of [[Paleo-Indians]] found in the region goes as far back as 6000 BC.<ref name="Hays County, Texas">{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hch11|title=Hays County, Texas|last=Cecil|first=Paul F|author2=Greene, Daniel P|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref> Archeological evidence of native agriculture goes back to 1200 AD. The earliest Europeans to arrive in the area were explorers and missionaries from the [[Spanish Empire]]. Father [[Isidro Félix de Espinosa]], Father [[Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares]], and  [[Pedro de Aguirre]] traveled through the area in 1709.<ref>{{cite book|title=Spanish Expeditions into Texas, 1689-1768|last=Foster|first=William C|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=1995|isbn=978-0-292-72489-1|page=117}}</ref> A few years later,  [[French-Canadian]] [[Louis Juchereau de St. Denis]] was attacked by [[Comanches]] in 1714.<ref>{{cite book|title=The French Thorn: Rival Explorers in the Spanish Sea, 1682-1762|last=Weddle|first=Robert S|publisher=TAMU Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0-89096-480-4|page=200}}</ref> More permanent European influence was established in 1755, when the Mission San Francisco Xavier de los Dolores was established among the [[Apache]] tribe.<ref>{{cite book|title=The First Catholics of the United States|last=Arias|first=David|publisher=lulu.com|year=2009|isbn=978-0-557-07527-0|pages=180–181}}{{self-published source|date=October 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}}
In 1831, [[Coahuila y Tejas]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/usc01|title=Coahuila and Tejas|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref> issued a land grant to [[Juan Martín de Veramendi]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fve06|title=Juan Martín de Veramendi|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref> to Juan Vicente Campos in 1832,<ref name="Hays County, Texas" /> and to Thomas Jefferson Chambers in 1834.<ref name="Hays County, Texas" /> The Mexican government issued a land grant to the first Anglo-American settler in the county, Thomas G. McGhee of [[Tennessee]], in 1835.<ref name="Hays County, Texas" />

On March 1, 1848, the legislature formed Hays County from [[Travis County, Texas|Travis County]]. The county is named for Tennessee native Captain John Coffee Hays<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|author=Gannett, Henry|publisher=Govt. Print. Off.|year=1905|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n152 153]}}</ref> of the [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]]. [[San Marcos, Texas|San Marcos]] was named as the county seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/SanMarcosTexas/SanMarcosTexas.htm|title=San Marcos, Texas|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref> The legislature established [[Blanco County, Texas|Blanco]] from part of Hays in 1858, but incorporated part of [[Comal County, Texas|Comal]] into Hays. Risher and Hall Stage Lines controlled 16 of 31 passenger and mail lines in Texas.<ref name="Hays County, Texas" />

In 1861, voters in the county favored [[Texas in the American Civil War|secession]] from the Union.<ref name="Hays County, Texas" /> The next year, the state legislature transferred more of Comal County to Hays County.<ref name="Hays County, Texas" />  In 1867, the first cattle drive from Hays County to [[Kansas]] occurred.<ref name="Hays County, Texas" />

The [[International-Great Northern Railroad]] was completed from Austin to San Marcos in 1880.<ref name="Hays County, Texas" /> Camp [[Benjamin McCulloch|Ben McCulloch]], named after a brigadier general, was organized in 1896 for reunions of [[United Confederate Veterans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/voc01|title=Camp Ben Mcculloch|last=Winfrey|first=Dorman|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref> A teacher's college, [[Texas State University|Southwest Texas State Normal School]], was established in San Marcos in 1899.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.txstate.edu/about/index.html|title=San Marcos Campus|publisher=Texas State University|access-date=December 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212143933/http://www.txstate.edu/about/index.html|archive-date=February 12, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Wonder Cave (San Marcos, Texas)|Wonder Cave]] opened to the public in 1900.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wonderworldpark.com/|title=Wonder World Park|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref> The current Hays County Courthouse in San Marcos was erected in 1908 in Beaux-Arts style by architect C.H. Page and Bros.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/SanMarcosTexas/HaysCountyCourthouseSanMarcosTexas.htm|title=Hays County Courthouse|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref>  The [[Aquarena Springs]] tourist site opened in 1928 in San Marcos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aquarena.txstate.edu/l|title=Aquarena Springs|publisher=Texas State University|access-date=December 1, 2010}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[Lyndon Baines Johnson]] graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1930.<ref>{{cite book|title=1960--LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies|last=Pietrusza|first=David|publisher=Union Square Press|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4027-6114-0|page=20}}</ref> In 1942, construction of [[San Marcos Municipal Airport|San Marcos Army Air Field]] began.<ref name="Gary Air Force Base">{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qcg02|title=Gary Air Force Base|last=Ratisseau|first=Shirley|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref> San Marcos Army Air Field was renamed Gary Air Force Base in 1953 to honor Second Lieutenant Arthur Edward Gary, the first San Marcos resident killed in [[World War II]].<ref name="Gary Air Force Base" />

The state legislature resurveyed the Hays and Travis County lines, adding {{convert|16000|acre|km2}} to Hays County, in 1955.<ref name="Hays County, Texas" /> In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson announced the establishment of a [[Job Corps]] center based at the deactivated Gary Air Force Base.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kdj01|title=Gary Job Corps Center|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref>