SHAFTER — “Colonizer” written in red spray paint still remains at the bottom of a Shafter historical marker — some 10 months after a vandal left the mark last December — although the graffiti is a bit faded now from the scrubbing efforts of Presidio County Attorney Rod Ponton.
The marker is a gray granite stone erected for rancher Milton Faver in 1936 as part of a series of markers placed around the state celebrating the Texas centennial. As The Big Bend Sentinel reported in January, the Texas Historical Commission, which is responsible for the markers, is aware of the damage and a staff member said at the time that the commission was contemplating next steps for repair. Marker coordinator Bob Brinkman said in January that THC would get in touch with the Presidio County Historical Commission, which Ponton chairs.
Ponton said he has not spoken to anyone at THC about it and wasn’t in the mood to wait for the state, which often takes months if it steps in to remove graffiti, and he set out with various cleaners a few months back and sat down to scrub away “colonizer.” Unfortunately, it only made the word a bit blurry while still recognizable. “It’s something we need to handle here locally,” he said last week. Ponton said Monday he is going to give the marker another scrub with a cleaner that he purchased designed to get rid of spray paint graffiti.
Still, the length of time the vandal’s mark has been on display and the THC’s role in facilitating repairs raises questions about the agency’s commitment to addressing vandalism. Several inquiries sent over the course of months to the THC department responsible for markers were not answered. After several calls to THC last week, a spokesperson said they would get word to Brinkman, letting him know that repairs are still needed.
Brinkman said in January that the usual process is for THC staff to coordinate with local officials on how to make the repairs — including the possibility of local fundraising by the Presidio County Historical Commission if money is needed for the project since no state funding is allocated to THC for repairs.
The memorial is set next to the ruins of old mining buildings in Shafter. Faver, a Virginian who moved to the Ojinaga area in the 1840s before settling on tracks of land amidst the Chinati and Cienega mountains in 1857. He eventually established a thriving sheep and cattle trade, and his holdings became the Cibolo Creek Ranch, about 33 miles south of Marfa on Highway 67. The “colonizer” epithet was likely spurred by the marker’s notation of Faver having the “first Anglo-American ranch in the Big Bend,” along with mention of the three forts he built “as a defense against hostile Apaches.”
Ponton has previously stated that he would advocate moving the marker up near Cibolo Creek Ranch, founded by Faver, and putting a new marker in Shafter relating to the town’s history.
The vandalism was reported to the Presidio County Sheriff’s Office, but there were no witnesses to the crime. Vandalism carries a charge from a class C to a class A misdemeanor, depending on the damage. But since markers are state property, perpetrators can be charged with a state jail felony.