Postcard from Fort Leaton

Marker at Fort Leaton

The area around the junction of the Rio Conchos and the Rio Grande rivers in far southwest Texas was first inhabited approximately 8,800 years ago according to archaeological evidence. From earliest times, humans have considered this to be a special place. Caches of stone tools and ceremonial arrowheads have been found throughout the area. The first Europeans, Spanish explorers,  came in the 1500's and with them, they brought diseases and illness' unknown to the native peoples, basically wiping them out. The Spaniards left and for the next 300 years, even though Spain continued to claim this land, they never settled it. Mexico won its independence from Spain and for the next 50 years, they claimed the land, but they didn't settle it either. Because it was so remote and rugged, everyone knew it as El Despoblado (the uninhabited land.)

There's a reason it was mostly uninhabited

In the 1800's, the Mescalero Apache and Comanche Indians came and ruled the land. During this time, in 1848, Ben Leaton purchased a shack and some land from a Mexican absentee owner, Juan Bustillos, and proceeded to build a 40-room adobe fortress around it. A former scalp hunter, Ben reached an uneasy truce with the Indians by providing them with food and weapons and encouraging them to raid Mexico where there ware many more cattle and horses. He paid them in goods for any stolen cattle they brought back. 

Leaton died in 1851 and his widow married Edward Hal who moved into the fort and took over the Leaton business. When he ran into financial trouble, he used the fort as collateral to borrow money from Leaton's ex-scalp hunting partner, John Burgess. When he defaulted on the loan, Burgess tried to evict Hal and his wife, but Edward refused to leave. He was found murdered not long afterward and there was no proof as to who killed him. The now twice widowed woman promptly moved out and was lost to history. John moved into the fort, but 10 years later was also found murdered. It was said that Ben Leaton's son did the deed in revenge, but he was never brought to trial and the death of Burgess was never solved and largely forgotten.

Be careful where you step

After the Civil War ended in 1865, military forts were established the Buffalo soldiers. mostly African-American cavalry, eventually drove the Indians out of the area and onto reservations far away. This allowed ranches to be established. Due to the scarcity of water and lack of forage, the ranches had to be large to sustain the cattle. The Chillicothe-Saucita Ranch covered 300,000 acres and when purchased in 1998 by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, it became Big Bend Ranch State Park. The Lely Ranch encompassed 70,000 acres. (In case you are interested, as of this writing, it is uninhabited and for sale at an undisclosed price.)

Entrance side of Fort Leaton

Due to murders, financial difficulties and abandonment, the fort and surrounding land was deeded to the state of Texas in 1967. Rumors of the building being haunted didn't help finding anyone who would buy the property. (For the story of the haunting click here.) Located on FM 170,  Fort Leaton is today a Texas State Historical Site and is undergoing restoration. So far, 24 of the original rooms have been restored complete with cottonwood beams and the other 16 rooms are in various stages of restoration. The site contains historic ruins, nature trails, and exhibits and is open from 8:00AM - 4:30PM every day except Christmas. A Texas State Park Store gift shop is located on the grounds.

Restoration continues on the old fort