Bandera County (Spanish: "flag", ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located in the Hill Country and its county seat is Bandera. Bandera county was settled by German and Polish emigrants in the mid 1800s. Many residents are descendants of those same emigrants.
As of the 2020 census, the population is 20,851. Bandera County is part of the San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area.
The county is officially recognized as the "Cowboy Capital of the World" by the Texas Legislature.
History
In 1856, the Texas Legislature established Bandera County from portions of Bexar and Uvalde Counties, and named the county and its seat for Bandera Pass, which uses the Spanish word for flag.
Native Americans and Texas-Indian Wars
Although the county's earliest evidence of human habitation dates from 8000 to 4000 BC, the county's earliest known ethnology places Lipan Apache and later Comanche settlements in the area during the 17th century. During the early to late 1800s, the county was a target for several Native American raids. Examples of this include a skirmish between migrating Shawnee Indians and Comanches in 1832 at Bandera Pass. Bandera Pass was also the site of the 1841 Battle of Bandera Pass between the Texas Rangers and the Comanche. In July of 1854, Texas Rangers engaged in a small battle with Seminole Indians near Bandera. Also, in 1862, settlers skirmished with Comanches near Medina, killing six warriors. In 1866, Lipan Apaches killed Thomas Click three miles west of Bandera. The last Indian raid in the county occurred on December 29, 1876, when Jack Phillips was killed by Indians, probably Lipan Apaches or Kickapoos, at Seco Pass in the southwestern part of the county, marking the end of the American Indian Wars in the county.
19th century
In 1841, John Coffee Hays and a troop of Texas Rangers defeated a large party of Comanche warriors, thereby pacifying the region in what became known as the Battle of Bandera Pass.
In 1853, John James and Charles S. DeMontel conducted a land survey and planned the town of Bandera. The town was then settled by A. M. Milstead, Thomas Odem, P.D. Saner, and their families along the river. The families began making cypress shingles. James, DeMontel and Company built a horse-powered sawmill and opened a store within a year. In the wake of successive national insurrections crushed by Prussia, Austria and Russia, 16 Polish families arrived in Bandera in 1855 and begin working in James and DeMontel's sawmill. Around this time August Klappenbach opens the first store and post office in Bandera. In 1856, the Texas Legislature established and formally organized Bandera County from portions of Bexar County.
By 1860, the population grew to 399, which included 12 slaves. By 1880, the ranching of sheep and Angora goats become more profitable than farming.
20th century
In 1920, Cora and Ed Buck launched Bandera's tourist industry by taking boarders at their ranch, and by 1933, Frontier Times Museum opened to the public.
During the last 30 years of the 20th century, with an estimated 80% of its land dedicated to farming and ranching industries, the county government facilitated three major actions to preserve its natural heritage: the Lost Maples State Natural Area which opened to the public in 1979, the Hill Country State Natural Area which opened to the public in 1984, and the Nature Conservancy purchased of the Love Creek Ranch from Baxter and Carol Adams to create the Love Creek Preserve in 2000.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.8%) is water. Bandera County is a part of the Greater San Antonio area and is located on the Edwards Plateau.
Major highways
- 20px State Highway 16
- 20px State Highway 46
- 20px State Highway 173
- 20px Park Road 37
- 20px Ranch to Market Road 187
- 20px Ranch to Market Road 337
- 20px Ranch to Market Road 1077
- 20px Farm to Market Road 1283
- 20px Ranch to Market Road 2828
- 20px Farm to Market Road 3240
Adjacent counties
- Kerr County (north)
- Kendall County (northeast)
- Bexar County (southeast)
- Medina County (south)
- Uvalde County (southwest)
- Real County (west)