Franciscan monks established a settlement on Las Moras Creek in the eighteenth century, and traders on the Chihuahua Trail between Indianola and Ciudad Chihuahua, along with numerous U.S. Army expeditions, stopped here. Recognizing the settlement’s strategic importance, the U.S. Army established Fort Clark (EL8) here in 1852. The town of Brackett, named for merchant Oscar P. Brackett, grew up outside the fort and became a stage stop on the line from San Antonio to El Paso. Because of frequent Indian attacks, the town developed slowly until after the Civil War, when Fort Clark was regarrisoned.
Although irrigated farming started in the county after 1900, it had little economic impact compared to that of the fort and ranching. A major economic blow came in 1946 with the closure of Fort Clark. Brackettville’s town plan juxtaposes street grids of different orientations, giving it an unexpected sense of spatial complexity.
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