Cibolo Creek Ranch

El Fortin del Cibolo Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Nightfall at Cibolo Creek Ranch
El Fortin del Cibolo Historic District Show map of Texas El Fortin del Cibolo Historic District Show map of the United States
Nearest city	Shafter, Texas
Coordinates	29°51′43″N 104°20′1″W
Area	606.6 acres (245.5 ha)
Built	1865 (1865)
Built by	Milton Faver
MPS	Historic Resources Associated with Milton Faver, Agriculturist, MPS
NRHP reference No.	95000366[1]
Added to NRHP	April 6, 1995

Cibolo Creek Ranch is a historic place in Presidio County, Texas, United States. Established as a cattle ranch prior to the Civil War, it has been used in modern times for hunting and a shooting location for the movie industry. It includes a fort called El Fortin del Cibolo which has been renovated as a luxury hotel featuring watchtowers and three-foot-thick adobe walls.^[2]

Location

The ranch is situated in the Chinati Mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert, near Shafter, Texas, approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of the Mexico–United States border.^[3][4] It spans 30,000 acres (12,000 ha), and U.S. Route 67 passes through the property.^[3]

The Cibolo Creek Ranch Airport is located 3.5 mi (5.6 km) northeast of the hotel.^[5]

History

Fortin de la Cienega
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Fortin de la Cienega Show map of Texas Fortin de la Cienega Show map of the United States
Nearest city	Shafter, Texas
Coordinates	29°48′13″N 104°12′41″W
Area	9 acres (3.6 ha)
Built	1854 (1854)
Built by	Milton Faver
NRHP reference No.	76002059[1]
Added to NRHP	October 8, 1976

La Morita Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
La Morita Historic District Show map of Texas La Morita Historic District Show map of the United States
Nearest city	Shafter, Texas
Coordinates	29°46′51″N 104°15′16″W
Area	116.2 acres (47.0 ha)
Built	1865 (1865)
Built by	Milton Faver
MPS	Historic Resources Associated with Milton Faver, Agriculturist, MPS
NRHP reference No.	95000367[1]
Added to NRHP	April 6, 1995

Milton Faver established the ranch in the 1850s and built three adobe forts, called El Cibolo, La Cienega, and La Morita, for defense against the Apache people who refused to leave the land.^[6][7] He raised 200,000 Texas Longhorn cattle.^[3]

The ranch has been used by the movie industry since the 1950s. For example, Giant was shot on the ranch in 1956.^[3] More recently, it was used as a shooting location for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada in 2005,^[7] followed by There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men in 2007.^[3]

The ranch was purchased by John B. Poindexter, the founder and chief executive officer of Houston-based manufacturing firm J.B. Poindexter & Co.^[4][8] Poindexter turned the historic forts into luxury hotel rooms.^[4] The grounds are used for big game and bird hunting. It hosted a gathering of members of the International Order of St. Hubertus, a male-only fraternity of hunters, in 2010.^[9]

A wildfire spread across 1,700 acres of the ranch in 1994.^[10]

In May 1999, the ranch hosted the wedding of country musicians Charlie Robison and Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks.^[11]

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died at the ranch in 2016. Among his fellow guests at the ranch were members of the International Order of St. Hubertus.^[12]

Cibolo Creek Ranch in 2008

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Presidio County, Texas
• Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Presidio County

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. Parent, Laurence; Patoski, Joe Nick (2001). Texas Mountains. University of Texas Press. p. 69. ISBN 9780292765924.
3. Abramson, Bein; Bacon, John (February 14, 2016). "Cibolo Creek Ranch: Wildlife, movie sets, luxury". USA Today. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
4. Blinder, Alan; Fernandez, Manny (February 13, 2016). "Texas Ranch Where Scalia Died Is Rugged Oasis for the Famous". The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
5. "Cibolo Creek Ranch Airport". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
6. Witynski, Karen; Carr, Joe P. (2001). Casa Adobe. Gibbs Smith. p. 140. ISBN 9781586850319.
7. Barnett, Tracy (November 19, 2006). "Cibolo Creek Ranch: A world-class ranch getaway, Cibolo Creek lives up to its reputation". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
8. "Company Overview of J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc.: John B. Poindexter". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
9. Viebeck, Elise (February 13, 2016). "Inside Cibolo Creek Ranch, the luxury resort where Scalia died". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
10. "Fires under control in Presidio County". The Facts. Clute, Texas. July 10, 1994. p. 7. Retrieved February 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Dixie Chicks member weds in West Texas". The Kerrville Times. Kerrville, Texas. p. 16. Retrieved February 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Emily Erwin of the Texas-born group married fellow Texan and musician Charlie Robison on Saturday at Cibolo Creek Ranch in the Big Bend.
12. Brittain, Amy; Horwitz, Sari (February 24, 2016). "Justice Scalia Spent His Last Hours With Members of This Secretive Society of Elite Hunters". The Washington Post.

External links

• Official website