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Brief History
Areas within the boundaries of the 2,400 acre site show signs of continuous habitation dating to pre-historic periods. Paleo-Indian Culture has been documented on the site to date back more than 10,000 years. Native Coahuiltecan Indian groups lived and hunted up and down the river for centuries, long before Spanish colonization. Jose Perez and Juan Ignacio Perez, the last Spanish Governor of Tejas, were the original European settlers on the property.Following Texas Independence the property was parceled and sold to early Texan families including the Applewhites, Presnalls and the Watsons, who ranched and farmed the land, as they had done in the southeastern U.S. before going west. The Watson-Presnall house and the ruins of the Applewhite House are among the 15 State Archeological Landmarks found on the site.