This page is dedicated to telling the history of Kinney County, at least as much as we can without infringing on a copyright or 3. You will find facts here, about those folks who we have been able to identify and place in Kinney County from it's beginning to the early part of this century. Enjoy your stay, drop a line if you have a tidbit or two we can add, or if you see something you can clear up and make better. Please definately let us know if you spot an error of fact or omission so we can correct that too. The following are excerpts from Kinney County 125 Years Of Growth 1852 - 1977 Lookups are available from this book written by the Members of the Kinney County Historical Commission.

Kinney County is named after Henry Lawrence Kinney who founded Corpus Christi. Henry was born in Bradford County PA, June 3, 1814. He died in July 1862 in Matamoras and is buried in an unknown grave.

Sailing from NY Harbor on November 11, 1833 were 59 immigrants, men, women and children sailed aboard the Amos Wright in preparation for building their new homes in the wilderness of Texas. The leader of this group was Dr. John Charles Beal and the Colony was to be called: "Villa de Dolores" after his wife, Donna Dolores Soto.

It took the colonists 26 days to make the trip from New York Harbor to Aransas Bay, arriving in the Bay on March 12, 1834. Two months later Dr. Beal would write in his journal: "to our great joy we encamped on the site of the future Villa de Dolores." The land they were to build on was situated near the Las Moras Creek north of the Rio Grande and south of the Nueces River below what is known today as the Edwards Plateau. These were folks from the East Coast of the United States and from Ireland and Germany. They were not used to the harsh environment they had ended up in and yet they settled in and soon had a thriving community. They cleared the land of prickly pear cactus, mesquite trees and other plant growth. They also had to deal with Black Widow Spiders, Scorpions, and Rattlesnakes which were found in abundance in the area.

The Colony, however, was not to last. The Commanche attacked and destroyed a settlement near them, a drought ruined their crops and then they heard that Santa Anna was coming across the border to put down the rebellion in Texas. In a panic they loaded up their goods and left the area.

In 1836 Texas became a Repbulic and in 1845 became a state. Early in 1852, Major Joseph Hatch Lamotte with Companies C and E, First Infantry accompanied by an advance and rear guard of United States Mounted Rifles camped at a site - which was to become Fort Clark. Lt. Sells of California carried orders - "Build a fort -- build it to last." The original fort was commissioned as Fort Riley on June 15, 1852. On July 15, 1852 orders were issued to re-name the fort for John B. Clark, who had been killed in the Mexican War.

The town of Brackett was established in 1852 and was named for O. B. Brackett, who built the first house and brought the first business to this area for the convience of the fort. The town built slowly but steadily, due to the warring Native American tribes in the area. With the fort so close however the town did continue to build and thrive. Brackett became a rendezvous for trappers, scouts, traders and cowboys. Cattle roamed freely over the hills in the area since the range was open in those days. After the semi-annual roundup the cowboys would gather in Brackett and burned off the steam of the roundup at the local establishments. Some of the notoriously famous who were seen in Brackett in those times were: Ben Thompson, King Fisher, and Wyatt Earp who spent winter months at Fort Clark.

The town of Bracketville was first named Brackett, then Brackett City, and finally Brackettville and incorporated in 1928.

The town of Spofford located 9 miles south of Brackettville on the Eagle Pass Highway, was established by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1880's. Photo's of the Spofford Hotel and the Railroad Depot can be seen by Clicking Here Note that this page takes some time to load as the pictures are quite large.

Fort Clark is now known as Fort Clark Springs and is a thriving retirement community which also sports a golf course, hotel and restaurant. The Las Moras Creek still flows through the Fort and supplies much of the water in the area.

Brackett News Stories from the Brackett News.

Kinney County Families Early Families of Kinney County

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