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College of Liberal Arts
1876-1882
1876
Lt. Col. William Shafter leads two expeditions of buffalo soldiers into
Mexico. One attacks a Lipan Village near Zaragoza, another attacks a Kickapoo
Camp in the Santa Rosa Mountains. Both expeditions return with prisoners
and captured horses and mules.
1878
Fort Richardson is abandoned.
1879
The town of Benficklin is destroyed by a flood of the Concho River. County
government is relocated to San Angela, which becomes the permanent county
seat and is renamed "San Angelo."
1880
A
band of Warm Springs and Mescalero Apaches under the chief Victorio terrorize
southern New Mexico and West Texas. During July and August, detachments
of the 10th Cavalry and 25th Infantry fight sharp engagements with the
Apaches, denying them access to vital water holes in the trans-Pecos region
of west Texas. Victorio withdraws to the mountains of Mexico, where he
is killed by Mexican soldiers.
1881
The post at Fort Griffin is abandoned. Residents of the civilian community begin moving to Albany, county seat of Shackelford County.
Lt. Bullis and 30 Seminole-Negro scouts pursue a band
of Lipan Apache raiders into Mexico. It is the last action against Indians
conducted by U.S. Army units in Texas.
1882
Fort McKavett is ordered to be abandoned, but an additional year is required
for the Army to remove the supplies stored at the fort. After the soldiers
depart, civilian residents of nearby "Scabtown" occupy the vacated
army buildings and establish the town of Fort McKavett.
The Texas and Pacific Railroad reaches El Paso from Fort Worth. The San Antonio-El Paso stagecoach line goes out of business.
Credits
The Timeline of Frontier Texas was written by Steve Dial, Contributing Editor for Texas Beyond History.