Bailey Ranch

Schleicher County (SHLI-ker) is in west central Texas 290 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and ninety miles northeast of the Texas-Mexico boundary. It is bordered by Tom Green, Concho, Menard, Kimble, Sutton, Crockett, and Irion counties. Eldorado, the county seat, is at the intersection of U.S. highways 190 and 277, forty-five miles south of San Angelo. The county's center lies five miles northeast of Eldorado at 30°54' north latitude and 100°31' west longitude. Situated in the Edwards Plateau, the county comprises roughly 1,309 square miles of rolling to hilly terrain at elevations ranging from 2,100 to 2,400 feet above sea level. The dark, loamy soils support a variety of tall grasses, as well as some oak, cedar, and mesquite. Between 11 and 20 percent of the land is considered prime farmland. The southwestern part of the county is in the Rio Grande basin, with the uppermost tributaries of the Devil's River draining the runoff south; the rest of the county lies within the Colorado basin and is drained by the upper reaches of the San Saba River to the east and by the South Concho River to the north. Wildlife in the area includes deer, turkey, javelina, bobcat, coyote, badger, fox, raccoon, squirrel, and skunk, as well as a variety of birds, fish, and reptiles. Among the county's mineral resources are dolomite, limestone, industrial sand, oil, and gas. The climate is subtropical, with an average minimum temperature of 32° F in January and an average high temperature of 96° in July. The growing season averages 229 days annually, and the rainfall averages twenty inches.

The Central Texas region, including Schleicher County, has supported human habitation for several thousand years. Archeological evidence discovered in several hundred mounds in the county suggests that hunting and gathering peoples established themselves in the area as early as 10,000 years ago. Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century found that the Jumano Indians living in the region were receptive to efforts to convert them to Christianity. Fray Juan de Salas and Father Juan de Ortega did some missionary work among the Jumanos in the 1630s, but by 1700 the Jumanos had disappeared, possibly absorbed into the Lipan Apache culture that had moved in from the north. The Comanche Indians dominated the region by the mid-eighteenth century, making their first recorded raid in 1758 against the Santa Cruz de San Sabá Mission in neighboring Menard County. Francisco Amangual led an expedition across the area in December 1808 and found the Indians to be friendly; nevertheless, the Spanish did not attempt further colonization in the area, probably because Amangual also reported no sign of American encroachment on the Spanish frontier. Schleicher County was part of the Fisher-Miller Land Grant, made by the Republic of Texas in 1842, but none of the immigrants who settled within the limits of the grant came so far west. Settlement of Schleicher County occurred well after the annexation of Texas to the United States. Some people may have moved into the easternmost part of the county after the United States War Department opened Camp San Saba (see FORT MCKAVETT) in western Menard County in 1852, but it was not until the mid-1870s that permanent ranches were established. The Texas legislature established Schleicher County from Crockett County in April 1887 and named it in honor of Gustav Schleicher, an early surveyor, engineer, and politician. It is not clear why the legislature decided to form the county at that time; there is no evidence available to suggest any lobbying efforts by local residents. In fact, because the county had such a small population, it was attached first to Kimble County and later to Menard County for judicial purposes. It was not until July 1901 that Schleicher County residents elected their first county officials.