History
Postmasters & Offices, 1913-1930Hudspeth County, Texas, History
submitted by Gina HeffernanThe first accounts of the area now called Hudspeth County are from the Spanish Rodríguez-Sánchez expedition in 1581 and from Antonio de Espejo's expedition in 1582. The Rodriguez group met friendly natives who gave them presents near what is now Esperanza and the Espejo group found a community of about 200 natives in the southeast. Much later, Europeans learned to avoid the war-like Mescalero Apaches who frequented the springs in the area. "Among the earliest Americans to cross the future county were John S. (Rip) Ford and Maj. Robert S. Neighbors in 1849 they stopped at a series of springs in southeastern Hudspeth County that Neighbors called Puerto de la Cola del Águila, Spanish for "Haven of the Eagle Tail." The springs, known as Eagle Spring, were a stop for stagecoaches and wagon trains from 1854 to 1882." [Handbook of Texas Online] By 1849, during the California Goldrush, trails across the area were in high demand and the future site of Fort Quitman (1858) was known as the only shade for hundreds of miles. El Paso County was created in 1850 from Bexar County (not organized until 1870) and included present-day Hudspeth County.
By 1860, the salt basin of northeastern Hudspeth County was being mined by the hardy folks who dared to settle in the area. Mexican citizens believed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (the Treaty that gave Texas to the USA), made the salt flats public property and they were entitled to mine it. However, two factions of local politicians wanted to charge a fee for the use of the mines and both wanted to acquire title to the basin. The Salt War of San Elizario ensued with violence on all sides. After several murders beginning with a judge in 1870, the situation came to a head in 1877 with the firing squad deaths of three American citizens by a mob of angry Mexican citizens in San Elizario. After the murders, the Mexicans looted the town. Within a few days, American troops and a posse of Americans forced their way into San Elizario and restored order, killing at least four men and scattering the leaders of the mob. The situation was investigated but the whole truth of it was never discovered and no one was ever brought to trial over it. Because of it, the abandoned Fort Bliss was re-established and peace was restored to the area.
On October 28, 1880, seven members of the Tenth United States Cavalry were murdered by the remains of the Apache group formerly led by Victorio who had been killed two weeks earlier. Victorio, an Apache leader noted for his tactical brilliance, had been raiding in West Texas, New Mexico and Mexico for about three years. For about 18 months, the cavalry looked for the band but they were hard to find and almost impossible to track. Troops finally surprised most of the band in Mexico and killed them all, leaving only women and children who were imprisoned in Mexico for several years afterward. A small force that was not present at the massacre was eventually chased into Hudspeth County where the battle that finally stopped them resulted in the deaths of the now-famous Buffalo Soldiers. There are several movies and many books about Victorio and there is a Memorial at the soldiers' graves near Indian Hot Springs. [I don't personally take sides in this inflamatory subject; atrocities were committed by both the Natives and the US troops and both the 10th Cavalry and the Apaches have my respect for protecting what they believed needed protecting.]
In 1881, the Southern Pacific and Texas and Pacific railroads joined just south of Sierra Blanca Mountain completing the second transcontinental rail line. Many small service communities grew along the lines including Sierra Blanca and Allamoore. At the same time, agricultural communities like Esperanza, McNary, and Acala were growing along the Rio Grande. In the early 1900s, Indian Hot Springs became a noted spa and resort and included John D. Rockefeller, Sr. as a visitor. Lt. George Patton was among the US soldiers assigned to protect the area from Pancho Villa. Many of the Mexican citizens fled south across the Rio Grande to escape issues connected to Villa and the Mexican Revolution. Hudspeth County was officially formed in February of 1917 from eastern El Paso County and was named for Claude Benton Hudspeth (1877-1941), a state senator and US Representative from El Paso. Sierra Blanca became the county seat and the historic courthouse there is made entirely of adobe.
The population increased between 1920 and 1930 to almost 4,000 people, mostly farmers, but has steadily declined since then. Although Sierra Blanca is the county seat, Dell City is also important despite its small size and Fort Hancock is the largest community with over twice as many folks as Sierra Blanca. In addition to farming, mining is an important resource in Hudspeth County with deposits of fluorspar, coal, zinc, silver, molybdenum, tungsten, copper, feldspar, talc, mica, and richterite. Hudspeth is also known for its large size (almost 3 million acres) which means there are about 842 acres per citizen, who are mostly native Hispanic.