Crockett County, Texas: History
Prehistoric people lived in Gobbler Shelter, located on a small tributary canyon of Live Oak Creek. The earliest known Native American tribes were the Tonkawa, Lipan Apache, and Comanche.
In 1590, Spanish explorer Gaspar Castaño de Sosa led a mining expedition of 170 who passed through the western section of Crockett County to reach the Pecos River. On May 22, 1684, Juan Domínguez de Mendoza and his expedition crossed the Pecos River and camped at San Pantaleón.
John Coffee Hays's 1849 expedition charted waterholes for transporting people and freight., and three years later, U.S. Army Colonel Joseph K. Mansfield recommended establishing a new post on Live Oak Creek to protect travelers. Fort Lancaster was established on August 20, 1855, in response to Mansfield's recommendation. In 1866, the Texas legislature provided three battalions of Texas Rangers to protect settlers in the area. Camp Melvin was established in 1868.
On January 12, 1875, Crockett County, named for Davy Crockett, was formed from Bexar County. Crockett County became a subsidiary of Val Verde County in 1885, and in 1887 was reduced further as Sutton and Schleicher counties were formed from part of its territory. In 1889, Emerald became the first town in Crockett County. Crockett County was organized in 1891, with Ozona serving as the county seat. The first water well was drilled at the First Baptist Church in Ozona that same year.
One of the first settlers was W. P. Hoover, who settled on the Pecos River in 1885. Throughout the next decade, sheep and cattle ranchers established themselves in the county. The Kirkpatrick Hotel was built to serve stagecoach passengers and cowboys. Stagecoach services began running in 1900, and contemporary county reports listed seven manufacturing firms. The Crockett County Courthouse was built in 1902 by architect Oscar Ruffini. The building does multiple duty for courtroom and county offices, as well as a community center and dance hall.
In 1925, the first producing oil well within the world, on L. P. Powell's ranch in north central Crockett County, by Chester R. Bunker's World Oil Company. Ozona erected a statue of Davy Crockett in the town square in 1938 and opened the Crockett County Museum the following year. In 1958, it was moved to its current location on the town square.