United States / Shafter vicinity, TX
all or unphotographed4 plaques 0% have been curated
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Texas Historical Marker #01417
El Fortin del Cibolo. Constructed in 1857, El Fortin del Cibolo was the headquarters of the vast ranching empire of Milton (Don Meliton) Faver (ca. 1829-1889). The heavily fortified structure was the first major outpost built between Fort Davis (established in 1854) and the Rio Grande. Faver, who reportedly learned of natural springs in this area from Indians who traded at his general store in Presidio del Norte, eventually acquired vast acreage surrounding the springs, thereby controlling the only steady water source in the vicinity. He built an irrigation system that supplied water for his immense vegetable gardens and peach orchard. Cibolo ranch crops supplied soldiers at Fort Davis and citizens of the nearby mining town of Shafter. El Fortin del Cibolo is a rare surviving example of a private fort in the Big Bend region. Reconstructed and restored based on archeological evidence and using hand labor, the one-story adobe, cottonwood, and cypress structure features a courtyard configuration with walls one to four feet thick; rounded towers at the northwest and southeast corners; gun ports; and wood canales (drain spouts). Hand-built stone fences accentuate the fort's primitive surroundings. It is one of the region's most significant historic structures. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1992. #1417
?, Shafter vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #03001
La Morita Ranch. Established in the 19th century, La Morita Ranch was the third ranch established in Presidio County by Milton Faver. A native of the midwestern United States, Faver had moved to Presidio del Norte in the 1850s, where he operated a mercantile store and a freighting business on the Chihuahua Trail. He moved his family to Presidio County by 1857, bought land and established his headquarters ranch on Cibolo Creek. By the 1870s Faver's ranching operations extended over thousands of acres. He recorded title to land along Las Moras Creek in October 1880 (probably well after his occupation of the site) and it became the headquarters for his large sheep and goat raising operations. Abundant springs at La Morita provided a steady source of water, and Faver had a system of pools and ditches constructed to divert the water for his ranching needs. Also built at La Morita were stone fences, corrals, and pens, as well as dwellings using traditional adobe building methods. In September 1889 Faver turned over operation of La Morita to George Dawson, the husband of his wife's niece, Juliana. Three months later, just days before his death, Faver deeded the property to Juliana Dawson. It remained in the Dawson family until 1966. (1995) #3001
?, Shafter vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #03391
Milton Faver. The earliest large-scale cattleman to settle in the Big Bend, Milton (Don Meliton) Faver prospered against seemingly impossible odds to become the first cattle baron west of the Pecos. While operating a freighting business on the Chihuahua Trail, he moved his family to Presidio del Norte and opened a general store about 1855 . After accumulating a large herd of cattle in Mexico he moved his family and vaqueros to the mountain country north of Presidio and made his headquarters on Cibolo Creek in 1857. He established two other ranches at nearby La Cienega and La Morita. Springs flowed abundantly on all three ranches, providing water for livestock and agriculture. In the fertile fields surrounding the ranches, Faver devised and installed irrigation systems that supplied water for vegetables, grain, and large peach orchards. El Fortin del Cibolo, ranch headquarters, served as a supply station for the U. S. Army quartermaster division at Ft. Davis. Troops used the ranch as a point of departure for forays into Indian occupied regions to the west and north. Celebrated for his hospitality, Faver was known as a gentleman of means who lived in style. He died in December 1889 and was buried on his ranch at Cibolo. (1992) #3391
?, Shafter vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #03392
Milton Faver Ranches. Milton Faver (ca. 1822-1889), a native of the midwest United States, moved to this area in the 1850s from Presidio del Norte, where he owned a general store and operated a freighting business on the Chihuahua Trail. By the 1880s, Faver controlled vast acreage in this part of the county, including most of the best permanent water sources, which he built into a formidable cattle, sheep, and goat ranching empire. Faver's three ranches-- El Fortin del Cibolo, El Fortin de la Cienega, and La Morita-- comprised the largest single-owner landholdings in the county. Structures on the ranches, including dwellings, work rooms, fences, corrals, and irrigation systems, were built with traditional adobe and stone building methods. Census and tax records show that Faver owned the largest livestock herds in the county in the late 19th century. Following the deaths of Milton Faver in 1889, his wife Francisca in 1893, and his son Juan in 1913, and after a lawsuit, the ranchlands were sold by the Faver heirs. Other pioneer ranching families in the area, including George and Juliana Dawson (niece of Francisca Faver), and J. A. Pool, Sr. and J. W. Pool and their heirs, the Greenwood family, operated ranches on the former Faver lands until the late 20th Century. (1995) #3392
?, Shafter vicinity, TX, United States