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37-413: The Trans-Pecos region consists of nine counties: Brewster , Culberson , El Paso , Hudspeth , Jeff Davis , Pecos , Presidio , Reeves , and Terrell . Brewster County, the largest, has a land area of 6,193 sq mi (16,040 km). The land area of Brewster County is about 10% larger than the state of Connecticut , yet it has a population density of only 1.4 persons per square mile compared to

74-648: A 1772 expedition to locate sites for forts on the Comanche Trail along the Rio Grande. In October 1851, Danish -born Col. Edvard Emil Langberg, Mexican commandant of Chihuahua , visited southern Brewster County. Surveyor William H. Emory in 1852 sent M. T. W. Chandler to survey what is now the heart of Big Bend National Park. Chandler explored Santa Elena Canyon, the Chisos Mountains Mariscal Canyon, and Boquillas Canyon. An 1859 expedition of

111-481: A Federal Communications Report stated that in daylight hours it was possible to get radio from Fort Stockton, Texas . Despite its substantial Hispanic population, Brewster County is Republican leaning in presidential elections, though not as strongly Republican as other rural counties in the Trans-Pecos region or West Texas. No candidate has won the county with double digit margins since George W. Bush in 2000 , and

148-559: A larger military presence in the area. President Wilson mobilized the National Guard to reinforce the Army, and by the end of 1916, an estimated 116,957 guardsmen were stationed along the border from California to Texas. As the mines and wax factories played out after World War I , raids from across the border abated. The geographic region known as the Big Bend is a loosely defined section of

185-610: A mercury ore. Silver and lead from mines on the Mexican side of the river in the Boquillas area were shipped north, as were candelilla wax produced at factories at Glenn Spring and Mariscal, and the guayule rubber from a factory in Marathon. Brewster County became targeted by incursions of bandits from Mexico, inspired at least in part by Pancho Villa . In June 1915, Governor James E. Ferguson asked President Woodrow Wilson to station troops in

222-465: A whole has voted for the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in every election since 1988, including Joe Biden, who received 65.7 percent of the vote in 2020. This is in large part because of El Paso County, which also has been solidly Democratic since Ronald Reagan won the county in 1984 . However, Presidio is the most consistently Democratic county in the Trans-Pecos, being like South Texas

259-448: Is a region of extremes, and at the opposite extreme from sparsely populated Terrell County is El Paso County, which is the smallest but most populated of the nine counties. El Paso County has a land area of only 1,015 sq mi (2,629 km), yet it has a population of 800,647 individuals, resulting in a population density of 789 persons per square mile, a value that exceeds that of Connecticut. El Paso County makes up 93.5 percent of

296-637: Is half the width of the Rio Grande . The county's area is larger than the combined area of Delaware and Rhode Island, and larger than area of the individual states Connecticut , Delaware , and Rhode Island . The Roadian Age of the Permian Period of geological time is named for rock strata in Road Canyon in the northern part of the county. The Wordian Age of the Permian Period is probably named for

333-722: Is located in Alpine. Brewster County is within the Odessa College District for community college. In 1985, there was a daily subscription of, in the county: 483 for the San Angelo Standard Times , 1.1% of its total circulation; and 270 for the Odessa American , making up 0.7% of its total circulation. In 1985, KVLF-AM, in Alpine, was the only radio station licensed in Brewster County. An individual quoted in

370-479: Is the largest county by area in the state - at 6,192 square miles (16,040 km ) it is over three times the size of the state of Delaware , and more than 500 square miles (1,300 km ) bigger than Connecticut . As of the 2020 census , the population was 9,546. The county is named for Colonel Henry Percy Brewster , a Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas . Paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers existed in

407-481: The Texas Senate is a senatorial district that currently serves all of Crockett , Edwards , Frio , Kinney , Maverick , Real , Terrell , Uvalde , Val Verde , and Zavala counties, and portions of Atascosa , Bexar , Brewster , and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas . The district is currently served by Democrat Roland Gutierrez . District 19 is one of the largest legislative districts in

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444-776: The Escondido Valley AVA , the Texas Davis Mountains AVA , and a portion of the Mesilla Valley AVA , most of which is in New Mexico . Brewster County, Texas Brewster County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas . It is in West Texas and its county seat (and only city) is Alpine . It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region, and borders Mexico . Brewster County

481-502: The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway traverses the county en route to Presidio . Download coordinates as: About 39.4% of Brewster County is classified as having a hot arid desert climate ( Köppen BWh ). The remainder has a semiarid steppe climate with 32.1% experiencing a cold steppe climate (Köppen BSk ), while 28.5% is assigned as a hot steppe climate (Köppen BSh ). Temperatures are coolest and rainfall most abundant in

518-633: The Mexico–United States border at Presidio / Ojinaga , after which it continues as Mexican Federal Highway 16 . State Highway 17 begins in Pecos and traverses Balmorhea State Park before joining Route 67 in Marfa, while State Highway 118 begins shortly after the junction of Interstates 10 and 20 near Kent and continues south to Study Butte at the entrance of Big Bend National Park . The Trans-Pecos region contains three American Viticultural Areas :

555-628: The Terlingua International Chili Championship , and the Original Terlingua International Chili Cookoff . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 6,192 square miles (16,040 km ), of which 6,184 square miles (16,020 km ) are land and 8.5 square miles (22 km ) (0.1%) are covered by water. It is the largest county in Texas by area. The only substantial water

592-556: The Texas House of Representatives , El Paso County is divided between House Districts 75–79, while the remainder of the region is included in House District 74. Interstates 10 and 20 are the largest freeways in the Trans-Pecos region. Major federal highways include US Highway 90 and US Highway 67 , which are partially cosigned ; Highway 90 continues from Alpine east to Del Rio , while Highway 67 runs south from Marfa to

629-545: The U.S. Camel Corps under 2d Lt. Edward L. Hartz explored the Comanche Trail through Persimmon Gap and down Tornillo Creek to the Rio Grande. A year later, a second camel expedition under 2d Lt. William Echols also explored along the Rio Grande. Brewster County was marked off in 1887 from Presidio County and named for Henry Percy Brewster . Murphyville, later renamed Alpine, was selected as county seat. In response to threats of ongoing Indian attacks, Camp Peña Colorado

666-568: The 19th century. Spanish explorers Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1535 and Antonio de Espejo in 1583 crossed Brewster County on their way to La Junta de los Ríos, the junction of the Rio Grande and the Rio Conchos . In 1684, Juan Domínguez de Mendoza camped at Kokernot Spring and wrote the earliest recorded description of it. Pedro de Rábago y Terán , Governor of Coahuila in the 1740s, led an expedition to La Junta de los Ríos. Northern Mexican military governor Lt. Col. Hugo Oconór led

703-622: The 723 persons per square mile who reside in Connecticut. Terrell County , which borders both the Pecos River and the Rio Grande , is the least-populated county in the Trans-Pecos region. According to the United States Census of 2000 , Terrell County had a total population of 984 residents occupying a land area of 2,358 sq mi (6,107 km), resulting in a population density less than 0.5 persons per square mile. The Trans-Pecos

740-546: The Big Bend. The request was denied by Maj. Gen. Frederick Funston , who believed such security was a state issue. Although a number of events took place to effect policy change, the tipping point was the May 5, 1916, raid at Glenn Spring. Only nine soldiers had been stationed in the area for protection against the bandits. Estimates vary as to the number of Mexican raiders who attacked the soldiers, from 60 to several hundred. The raid caused

777-557: The Chili Appreciation Society. Fellow columnist Wick Fowler joined in the fun and became a charter member. The World Championship Chili Cookoff at Terlingua began as a tongue-in-cheek challenge between Fowler and humorist H. Allen Smith in 1967 and has become a November tradition, celebrated across the state and nation. On the first Saturday in November Terlingua now hosts two competing international chili championships:

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814-602: The Democrats by Bill Clinton in 1996, have become comparably Republican to Jeff Davis in the past couple of elections. The remaining three counties, especially Brewster County, have been “swing” counties since the 1970s, although Hillary Clinton consolidated Democratic majorities in Culberson and Reeves counties in 2016. The city of El Paso and its environs form Texas's 16th congressional district , currently represented by Congressman Veronica Escobar ( D - El Paso ). The remainder of

851-404: The Trans-Pecos, although generally agreed to comprise its more southern portions. Characterized by an extremely rugged, arid Chihuahuan Desert landscape, the region takes its name from the sharp northeastward turn made by the Rio Grande nearby. Often noted for its stark beauty, the Big Bend was described by the historian Walter Prescott Webb as "the finest example of earth-wreckage in Texas". It

888-609: The United States and is larger than the state of Rhode Island . Big Bend Ranch State Park (located partially in Presidio County ) opened to the public in 1991; at 300,000 acres (1,200 km ), it is the largest state park in Texas. Terlingua produced 40% of the nation's quicksilver in 1920, but declining population has since qualified it as a ghost town . In 1962, The Dallas Morning News columnist Francis X. Tolbert published his ode to chili Bowl of Red and founded

925-580: The Word Ranch in the Glass Mountains, also in the northern part. U.S. Highway 90 crosses the county in the north; U.S. Highway 385 enters Brewster County from the northeast and proceeds south to the county's main attraction, Big Bend National Park , part of the Big Bend . The Sunset Route of the Union Pacific Railroad crosses northern parts of the county, and a recently revived portion of

962-477: The area in 1882 as part of Company B of the Texas Rangers assigned to protect the railroad. By 1882, he had settled near Alpine and taken up ranching, branching out later to become a merchant and civic leader. Jackson is known locally as the father of Sul Ross University due to his efforts that helped lead to the establishment of the school. Sul Ross University, named for Texas Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross ,

999-661: The area in 1882 to help his brother's ranching operation, founding the A. S. Gage Ranch , one of the largest ranching operations in Texas, in 1883. In 1927, he built the Gage Hotel in Marathon . Legendary lawman and later Texas Rangers Hall of Fame member James B. Gillett served as sheriff of Brewster County, and operated a ranch in Alpine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He later retired to his Barrel Spring Ranch in Jeff Davis County . Joseph Daniel Jackson came to

1036-533: The county's northern highlands and in the upper elevations of the Chisos Mountains in the south. In the southern lowlands along the Rio Grande, snowfall is uncommon, rainfall much reduced, and summer high temperatures can be extreme. Throughout the county, precipitation falls mostly from May through October with the remainder of the year predominantly dry. As of the 2020 United States census , there were 9,546 people, 4,292 households, and 2,300 families residing in

1073-662: The county. As of the 2015 Texas population estimate program, the population of the county was 9,152: non-Hispanic whites , 4,934 (53.9%); non-Hispanic blacks , 76 (0.8%); other non-Hispanics, 261 (2.9%); and Hispanics and Latinos (of any race), 3,881 (42.4%). Per the prior 2010 United States census , 9,232 people resided in the county; 86.6% were White , 1.1% Black or African American , 1.1% Native American , 0.7% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 7.6% of some other race and 2.8% of two or more races . About 42.4% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). These school districts serve Brewster County: In addition, Sul Ross State University

1110-586: The last non-Republican candidate (as of 2024) to win the county was Barack Obama in 2008. However, unlike the rest of southern Texas, the county swung towards Biden in the 2020 election, albeit by less than one percent with both candidates gaining in vote percentage. Brewster County appears in the poem by Campbell McGrath , "Sunset, Route 90, Brewster County, Texas," featured in his book American Noise . 29°48′43″N 103°15′06″W  /  29.81185°N 103.2517°W  / 29.81185; -103.2517 Texas Senate, District 19 District 19 of

1147-486: The longest-established Democratic stronghold in the nation. Jeff Davis is the most Republican county in the region, last being won for the Democratic Party by Jimmy Carter in 1976, although even George W. Bush ’s 66.79 percent of the vote in 2000 stands modest compared to the 90 percent or more Republican vote common in Panhandle counties since the turn of the millennium. Hudspeth, Pecos and Terrell Counties, last won for

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1184-588: The region at least 9000 years ago. Mescalaro Apaches emerged later and conducted raids that discouraged settlers. Between 1779 and 1787, Col. Juan de Ugalde drove the Mescalaros back north across the Rio Grande and into the Chisos Mountains . The three leading Mescalero chiefs, Patula Grande, Quemado, and Zapato Tuerto, agreed in March 1789 to submit to Spanish rule. Comanche raiding parties continued through much of

1221-570: The region is located entirely within Texas's 23rd congressional district , currently represented by Congressman Tony Gonzales ( R - San Antonio ). In the Texas Senate , El Paso County forms a single district, Senate District 29 , represented by José R. Rodríguez ( D - El Paso ), while the remainder of the region is included in Senate District 19 , represented by Pete Flores ( R - Pleasanton ). In

1258-604: The region's total population. Overall, the total population of the Trans-Pecos amounts to 856,187 residents occupying an area of 31,479 sq mi (81,530 km), resulting in a population density around 27 persons per square mile (10 persons per km), less than a third of the population density of the state as a whole. If the Trans-Pecos were to become a state, it would rank 45th in population (more than Delaware, less than Montana), 40th in total area (larger than South Carolina, smaller than Maine), and 42nd in population density (higher than Nevada, lower than Kansas). The region as

1295-468: Was created by an act of the 35th Legislature in 1917 as a state normal college to train teachers. The population grew from 710 in 1890 to 5,220 in 1910 due for the most part to industries that relied on natural resources. From the turn of the 20th century through World War II , the Terlingua Mining District, west of the Chisos Mountains, was a boom town due to the extraction of cinnabar ,

1332-426: Was established in 1879 a few miles south of the future site of Marathon. Word of mouth about the open rangeland in the area was spread by freighters John W Burgess and August Santleben, leading the way for settlers. The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway built through the area in 1882, opening up opportunity for entrepreneurs who came on railroad-related business and stayed. Alfred S. Gage moved to

1369-498: Was for this reason that a national park was to be established in the region. Big Bend National Park was established as a state park in 1933 by the state legislature, and expanded the same year by Governor Miriam A. Ferguson . In 1935, the United States Congress passed legislation founding it as a national park. Big Bend opened to the public in 1944. At just over 800,000 acres, it is the fourteenth largest national park in

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