West Texas Historical and Scientific Society Publications, Bulletin 48, Number 5 Page: 12
76 p. : ill.View a full description of this periodical.
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SUL Ross STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
Chihuahua City and at Presidio del Norte, returned to the
United States to outfit themselves for the enterprise. They
did not return to Presidio del Norte, however, until 1850, and
by then the territory north and east of the Rio Grande had
been legally transferred to the United States by the provisions
of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848.14 The transfer of
Texas from Mexico to the United States doubtless influenced
Spencer, Leaton, and Burgess in their decision to establish head-
quarters for their activities on the Texas side of the Rio Grande
rather than in Presidio del Norte. At any rate, by November,
1851, they had purchased and were in occupation of land on
the Texas side of the river across from the Mexican settlement.
The land thus occupied was purchased from Mexican-Indians
who held the land under Mexican land grants..- In addition to
the small tracts purchased from the Mexicans the Anglo-Ameri-
cans filed with the State of Texas on other unoccupied land
near by.
Spencer gained control of the land just across the river from
Presidio del Norte and established a horse ranch. Lack of a
dependable market for horses and Indian raids in which many
horses were driven off caused the undertaking to prove un-
profitable, and, after 1854, his horses were replaced by cattle
which were driven from northern Mexico. The cattle business
proved to be more satisfactory because the cattle could not be
driven away so easily by the Indians, and, possibly of more
significance, because, in 1854, Spencer secured a "beef con-
tract" to supply the United States army post which had just
been established at Fort Davis.
Ben Leaton, another of the trio, settled down the river some
four or five miles from Spencer's Ranch, where he occupied,
for a few years, an extensive adobe structure which stands
today and is known as Fort Leaton. From this place Leaton
engaged in a somewhat questionable relationship with the trou-
blesome Indians on both sides of the river.
John D. Burgess, the third of the group which founded Pre-
sidio, Texas, became the chief freighter for the settlement,
and used Spencer's Ranch as headquarters for a few years until
he came into possession of Fort Leaton. After 1854 his
freighting business developed rapidly because of the establish-
ment of the United States Army posts west of the Pecos River.
Spencer's Ranch, as the chief settlement on the Texas side
l4Notes on the life of John W. Spencer. Private file of Clifford B.
Casey, Alpine, Texas.
Passport No. 33, Registrado 1, Libro 1, issued to John W. Spencer at
Franklin, Texas, June 27, 1850. Private file of John W. Spencer's son,
Ricardo Spencer, Ojinaga, Chihuahua.
isNotes on the life of John W. Spencer.12
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Sul Ross State Teachers College. West Texas Historical and Scientific Society Publications, Bulletin 48, Number 5, periodical, December 1, 1933; Alpine, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1065592/m1/14/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.