Native Americans Prehistoric hunter-gatherer peoples were the first inhabitants, and their artifacts have been found in various areas of the county.
Lipan Apache,
Shawnee, and
Coahuiltecan culture followed. The abandonment of Fort Duncan on March 20, 1861, during the Civil War, enabled the Indian population to gain control of the region; both American and Mexican inhabitants suffered tremendous loss of life and property. The fort was reoccupied in 1868. In early 1871, a number of
Black Seminole Indians living along the border were organized into a company of scouts and brought to Fort Duncan. The last Indian raid in the county occurred in 1877. Three traders were murdered and mutilated by Lipan Apaches. The site of the incident, northeast of Eagle Pass, became known as Deadman's Hill. The trail was originally blazed by
Alonso De León in 1690, and is said to have been traversed by more early Spanish explorers and settlers than any other section of the state. In 1989, the legislature authorized the Old San Antonio Road Preservation Commission to coordinate the 1991 300th anniversary of the trail's founding.
Saltillo alcade Fernando de Azcué in 1665 pursued Indians into the county. In 1675,
Fernando del Bosque traversed the area near
Quemado, and
Franciscans with the expedition are said to have celebrated the first Mass on Texas soil. In 1688, Alonso De León followed the Camino Real across the county en route to Fort St. Louis.
Domingo Terán de los Ríos, the first
Governor of
Spanish Texas, led an expedition through the county in 1691.
Spanish Texas Governor Martín de Alarcón crossed the county in 1718 on the expedition that resulted in the founding of
San Antonio. Governor of the
Mexican provinces of
Coahuila and
Texas,
Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, in 1720 passed through on an expedition that brought goats, 2800 horses and 6400 sheep that was the onset of Spanish ranching in Texas. Pedro de Rivera y Villalón crossed the county in 1727 as part of an expedition to inspect the frontier defenses of
New Spain.
Early settlers Antonio Rivas was the first known rancher on the land in 1765. The county still has a considerable ranching community. Freight operator Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Groos secured a contract to haul supplies for the army at Fort Duncan. At his urging, several early settlers of Eagle Pass were
emigres of the Mexican river villages and missions of San Juan Bautista, San José, Santo Domingo, San Nicolás, La Navaja, and San Isidro.
Emigres Refugio and Rita Alderete de San Miguel used the profits of their freighting business to establish a large-scale cattle, sheep, and horse ranch on Elm Creek in 1853. They were joined in ranching operations by stranded pilgrims on the
California Gold Rush trail and discharged Fort Duncan soldiers. Among these was Infantry veteran Jesse Sumpter, who also worked at many odd jobs before becoming sheriff in the newly formed Maverick County. In 1855,
Texas Governor Elisha M. Pease authorized a raid into Mexico. An international incident was brought about by James H. Callahan and William R. Henry, whose pursuit of Lipan Apache raiders and runaway slaves into Mexico ended in the looting and torching of Piedras Negras, after an encounter with Mexican forces at La Marama on the Río Escondido.
County established and growth Maverick County was established from Kinney County and named for
Samuel A. Maverick in 1856. The county was organized some years later on September 4, 1871. The estimated population of the county in 1860 was 726. Eagle Pass voted 83–3 against
secession from the Union. March 3, 1911, when
Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois and
Philip O. Parmalee made the first official military reconnaissance flight, looking for Army troops between
Laredo and
Eagle Pass, Texas, with a ground exercise in progress. In 1942, the Army Air Force built a single-engine advanced flying school north of Eagle Pass. Oil and gas exploration in the county began in the 1950s, with the largest fields being the 1969 Fitzpatrick and Wipff, and the 1970 Burr. The coal industry of Maverick County is located along a section of the Olmos Coal Formation immediately north of Eagle Pass. Mining operations developed by Dolch at Dolchburg and by the Olmos Coal, Coke, and Oil Company at Olmos were the largest coal producers in Texas around the turn of the 20th century. . Industries located in the county in 1977 included a cotton gin and two cattle
feedlots with capacities of 25,000 cattle at El Indio, one at Normandy, and another between Eagle Pass and El Indio. A spinach-packing shed was at the southern edge of Eagle Pass. Industries which have located in the Eagle Pass–Maverick County area since 1977 include the Eagle Pass Manufacturing Company (a division of Hicks-Ponder, Inc) and the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Co, both makers of work clothing; the Reynolds Mining Corp fluorspar plant and the Tejas Barite plant; Alta-Verde Industries and Maverick Beef Producers, and the Big River Catfish Farm. In 1982, 88 percent of all land in the county was considered farmland and ranches, but only 2 percent of the farmland was under cultivation, and most of that was irrigated. Primary crops were hay, oats, and wheat. ==Geography==