Editing Culberson County, Texas (section)

===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>