History of Central Texas

​The Buffalo 4 Ranch is located near Blackwell, on some of the most storied lands in central Texas.  Spanish explorer Cabeza De Vaca is storied to have passed thru San Angelo, 50 miles south of the ranch, on his wanderings thru Texas and one of the first Spanish Missions in Texas was built in San Angelo in the 1680’s. This area of Texas was populated by fierce Indian tribes the likes of the Apache, Kiowa & Comanche.  Texas entered the Union in 1845 and in 1848 the United States began building remote forts to protect settlers and people traveling from the east to participate in the California gold rush from the marauding Indians.  The ruins of several old Calvary forts including Ft. Chadbourne, Ft. Concho, Ft. Phantom Hill & Ft. Griffin are all within a 90-minute drive of the ranch on what is called the Texas Forts Trail. The Buffalo 4 Ranch is located 5 miles north of one the best restored Calvary Forts in Texas, historic Ft. Chadbourne which also housed a way station for the historic Butterfield Overland Stage Mail line operating from 1858 – 1861. Union military officers, including Robert E. Lee & James Longstreet, passed thru Ft. Chadbourne’s doors.  At the beginning of the Civil War the Union turned over control of their Texas military forts to the Confederates. They reoccupied many of these forts shortly after the Civil War as the Indians had again taken control of most of central and west Texas, driving settlers from their lands.  Ft. Chadbourne was one of the forts visited by 1870’s outlaw Indians Satanta, Buffalo Hump, Big Tree and Satank, several of which were hung for attacking wagon trains.  In 1874 John T Lytle established what is referred to as the Western or Ft. Griffin Cattle Trail, driving 3,500 head of cattle from Bandera, Texas to Dodge City Kansas through San Angelo, Ft. Chadbourne & Ft. Griffin, Texas.  By 1879, the Western Trail had replaced the Chisholm Trail as the preferred western route to move cattle from south Texas to the railheads in Kansas, moving over 3 million Longhorn cattle along this route.  Ranching has been the main focus over the last 150 years in this region of Texas with the Wind and Solar Energy farms being developed in the last 20 years.