Editing Presidio County, Texas (section)

===Early explorations and settlements===
The ''entrada'' of [[Juan Domínguez de Mendoza]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Itinerary of Juan Domínguez de Mendoza, 1684|url=http://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-017/summary/index.asp|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|access-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref>  and Father Nicolás López<ref>{{cite web|title=Nicolás López |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/flo20|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Society|access-date=December 12, 2010|date=June 15, 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Presidio – Presidio, Texas |url=https://presidiotx.us/?page_id=25 |access-date=January 26, 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Ronquillo Land Grant|last=Smith|first=Julie Cauble|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mnr01|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Society|access-date=December 12, 2010|date=June 15, 2010}}</ref>

The [[Chihuahua Trail]] connecting Mexico's state of [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]] with [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]], opened in 1839.<ref>{{cite book|last=Perry|first=Ann|title=A Guide to Hispanic Texas|year=1996|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-77709-5|author2=Smith, Deborah |author3=Simons, Helen |author4= Hoyt, Catherine A |page=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Sharp|first=Jay W|title=Desert Trails: The Chihuahua Trail|url=http://www.desertusa.com/mag03/trails/trails05.html|publisher=Desert USA|access-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref>

By 1848, Ben Leaton built [[Fort Leaton State Historic Site|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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fort Leaton|last=Smith|first=Julie Cauble|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/uef10|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Society|access-date=December 12, 2010|date=June 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fort Leaton State Historic Site|last=Smith|first=Julie Cauble|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ghf03|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Society|access-date=December 12, 2010|date=June 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fort Leaton State Historic Site|url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/fort_leaton/|publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department|access-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref>

Milton Faver became the county's first cattle baron.<ref>{{cite web|title=Milton Faver|last=Smith|first=Julie Cauble|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffa16|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Society|access-date=December 12, 2010|date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fortin de la Cienega|url=http://www.forttours.com/pages/fortindelacienega.asp|publisher=Fort Tour Systems, Inc.|access-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref>