Editor’s notes: A January 11 article on the vandalism of the Milton Faver memorial marker in Shafter incorrectly stated the number of forts built by Faver in the area. It should have read three. The following provides additional context on Faver’s origins and the word “cíbolo.”
Dear Editor:
We read with interest the article concerning the Faver historical marker in Shafter. We believe, however, that there are factual issues which deserve further discussion.
The article says that Milton Faver was a Virginian who moved to the Ojinaga area in the 1840s. We believe that he was from Missouri. The place of his birth is unclear as it is listed as Missouri in the 1860 census, if we accept the spelling of his name as “Milton Flavors,” living at “Fort Lieton.” Cíbolo Creek Ranch would have been listed as being at Fort Leaton, the largest community in the Big Bend at the time, or he may, in fact, have still been living mostly in Fort Leaton, today’s Presidio. His birthplace is listed as Virginia in the 1870 census and in the 1880 census. The year of his birth is alternately listed as either 1821 or 1822. Both of his parents were born in Essex, Virginia. His father, Willis Argalus Faver, is listed in the 1820 census as “William Favor” (he was also sometimes known as William), living in Essex, Virginia. Willis Faver is listed in genealogical records as having died in 1826 in Lee Township, Platte County, Missouri and Milton’s mother, Frances Atisher Faver, as having died in Lee Township, Platte County, Missouri after 1850. Milton Faver’s family could have moved to Missouri before he was born in 1821 or 1822 or, if he was born in Essex, Virginia, he would have moved with his family to Missouri as an infant or a very young child, less than four or five years old, before his father’s death in 1826. He would, therefore, have grown up in Missouri and would more appropriately be known as a Missourian, not a Virginian. We know that he was in Missouri when he was involved in a duel at about 18 years of age in which he believed that he had killed his opponent.
He left Missouri to avoid being charged with murder and eventually made his way to Meoqui, Chihuahua, where he worked in a flour mill at first and then established a freighting company, hauling freight from Meoqui to Chihuahua and to Presidio del Norte (Ojinaga). He married his wife, Francisca Ramírez in Meoqui. He later left his freighting company in charge of his employees and moved to Presidio del Norte. He started selling goods out of one cart, then bought two wagons, and eventually traded goods from Fort Davis to Chihuahua and back. In the 1850s he started a general mercantile company in Presidio, Texas. Also in the 1850s, he drove cattle to market in New Orleans. He was one of the earliest trail drivers in Texas. He founded Cíbolo Creek Ranch in 1857, in order to farm the bottom lands along the creek and sell his produce and livestock to the U.S. Army at Fort Davis. The census records list him as a farmer, although we know that he raised cattle, sheep, and goats as well. Milton Faver passed away in December of 1889 and is buried at Cíbolo Creek Ranch.
The next issue deals with the origin of the word cíbolo. The article says that its origin is unknown, but that is not the case. When the early Spanish explorers first saw bison in North America, they referred to them as vacas, cows. Among the early Spanish explorers in New Spain, however, there was a legend of a city named Cíbola, which had immense riches. In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado set out with a large expedition searching for the fabled city. When he encountered bison, he called them in his journal toros de Cíbola, the bulls of Cíbola. In 1601, don Juan de Oñate, the first governor of New Mexico, explored along La Cañada in the Panhandle of Texas, today’s Canadian River. In his journal he describes “those most monstrous cattle called cíbola.” It was a small step, then, for los toros de Cíbola and for the monstrous cattle called cíbola to be called cíbolos in archaic Spanish.
According to the late Dr. Nancy Hickerson, professor of history at Texas Tech University, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca made his way down Cíbolo Creek in 1535 to reach La Junta de los Ríos, the junction of the Río Conchos and the Río Grande del Norte, today known as Presidio/Ojinaga. In his journal, he states that he spent two nights with la gente de las vacas, the cow people, so called because they lived off of the bison herds. He undoubtedly spent two nights at today’s Fortín del Cíbolo at Cíbolo Creek Ranch, which was the rancheria of the Cíbolo tribe. An interesting fact is that he asked his hosts why they had not planted any corn. They told him that it had not rained for two years, and they would not plant until it started raining.
Once the word cíbolo began to be used in Spanish, it was also a small step for la gente de las vacas to start to be known as la gente de los cíbolos, and then simply the Cíbolos. They lived off of the bison, following the herds as far as the Colorado River in Central Texas, but their rancheria, their home base, was near Cíbolo Springs, at the headquarters of Cíbolo Creek Ranch. They gave their name to Cíbolo Creek, which they lived along. The Cíbolos were part of the Jumano culture that lived at La Junta de los Ríos. We believe they were pushed away from Cíbolo Springs to La Junta by the Mescalero Apaches, where they were later absorbed by the Mescaleros along with the Jumanos at La Junta.
The article also says that Milton Faver built four forts “as a defense against the Apaches.” We are only aware of three adobe forts that he built in the late 1850s: Fortín del Cíbolo, which was his headquarters and his farming operation, Fortín de la Ciénaga, which was the headquarters of his cattle operation, and Fortin de la Morita, the headquarters of his sheep and goat operation. If you know of a fourth fort, we would be very interested in knowing where it is or was. The author of the article may be thinking of an adobe fort that was built later, possibly around 1870, by John Davis along Alamito Creek as a way station and an agricultural community, but it was not a Faver fort. We feel it would be more appropriate to say that Faver built his forts as a defense against Apaches, Comanches, and bandits of all kinds. There were battles, attacks, and raids at the forts over the years. Presidio County was lawless country when Faver established Cíbolo Creek Ranch.
We appreciate very much the opportunity to discuss further the history of Milton Faver, Cíbolo Creek Ranch, and the Shafter area.
Dick Gill
John Poindexter
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Dear Editor,
Robust (adjective): strong and healthy.
The City of Marfa is holding an election for three City Council members and the deadline to file for candidacy is this week, Friday, February 16, at 5 p.m. I am running, and I hope others who are considering running make the decision to put their names in as well.
Too often our elections are either uncontested or the pool of candidates is so small that we miss out on one of the greatest auxiliary benefits of a race — the chance to publicly exchange ideas and sharpen the tools that ultimately craft our public policy. If there are several candidates in the race vying for the same positions, ideas become competitive, and our election becomes robust. In turn, our Council ultimately becomes better and better able to engage in robust debate on important issues.
If you fear losing, just remember we are all in this together.
Think of it this way: perhaps you will win and be rewarded with the opportunity to accomplish what you set out to do and serve your community. If you don’t win, you don’t have to attend all of those meetings! Either way, you will have contributed to a robust process, and this benefits us all. I don’t mind if the voters don’t select me, and neither should you. Participation itself can make a big difference. You could sway another candidate on something you care about or bring awareness to an issue no one else is discussing.
My understanding is that we currently have no female candidates, which seems a shame considering the Council is entirely male at present. Diversity among our elected leaders is important, so I encourage anyone who feels underrepresented to get involved, whether as an elected official or on a volunteer board. After all, you can’t spell “robust” without … wait for it … U.
Sincerely,
Tony Georges
Marfa
