History of Kendall County

History of Kendall County. Guadalupe River. , Prehistoric , Prehistoric people hunt and gather in the region as early as 10,000 years ago., Native Americans , Comanches, Lipan Apaches and Kiowas are the main tribes in the area by 1700., Spanish Explorers , 1689 , The name Guadalupe, or Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, was applied to the present river when the stream was so named by the Spanish explorer Alonso de León and Domingo Terán de los Ríos., 1690 , Fray Damián Massanet instructed Alonso de León to leave imported Spanish horses and cows at every river crossing, which started the wild herds of longhorn and mustangs along the Nueces, Medina, Guadalupe and Trinity River crossings of the Old San Antonio Road., 1720s , European settlement along the Guadalupe began as early as the 1720s when the Spanish established several missions above the site of present-day Victoria., Most of the early explorers, including Father Isidro Félix de Espinosa, Domingo Ramón, and the Marqués de Aguayo, called the Guadalupe River the San Ybón above its junction with the Comal and referred to the Comal River as the Guadalupe., 1727 , The name Guadalupe was applied to the present river when Pedro de Rivera y Villalón so referred to it., European Settlers , 1844 , Battle of Walker’s Creek - In June, Captain Jack Hayes and 14 Texas Rangers battled and repelled a large band of Comanches led by Yellow Wolf at the Pinta Trail crossing on the Guadalupe. This confrontation was the first time that an entire company of Rangers fought with Colt revolvers., 1850s , Dr. Ernst Kapp creates and promotes Badenthal, Texas’s first health spa in Sisterdale, which consisted of hydropathy and a gymnastics regime., 1861 , Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee crosses the Guadalupe River for the last time as he travels from Ft. Mason to San Antonio for his resignation from the United States Army., John Samson from the Currey Creek settlement is among the few German Unionists to escape from the Battle of the Nueces Massacre., 1880s , The SA&AP constructs a water tank at Waring that is fed with water pumped from the Guadalupe River., Today , 1900 , Guadalupe River floods in January and topples two of the three wooden trusses of the SA&AP railroad bridge., 1914 , The San Antonio, Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Company completes its line from the SA&AP Fredericksburg Junction at the Guadalupe River to Fredericksburg., 1933 , State legislature established the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) to oversee the control, storage, and distribution of water from the Guadalupe and Blanco rivers., 1958 , Work begins on the Canyon Lake Dam and it is completed in 1964., 2002 , The Canyon Lake Gorge is formed from this July flood, which resulted in the spillway’s first time use with water flowing over it for six weeks., Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District is created by referendum., 2006 , GBRA Western Canyon Regional Water Supply Project begins in 2004 and is completed in 2006., 2009 , Kendall County purchases and develops James Kiehl River Bend Park as part of the 2005 Park Bond program, the first county park along the Guadalupe River., [Captions - Top to Bottom:] , Lipan tribe , Comanche warrior along river , Guadalupe River , Old Pinta Trail crossing , Explorers , Buffalo jump , Samson, 1st county sheriff , Northern Mexico cattleman, 1740 , George Wilkins Kendall , Adeline de Valcourt Kendall , Kapp’s Badenthal, first health spa in Texas, c. 1860s , Jack Hays, Texas Ranger captain , Flood in 1900 at railroad bridge , Waring train depot and water tower , Railroad bridge over Guadalupe , Canyon Lake Dam, c. 1960s , Construction on dam, c. 1960s , Canyon Lake , Canyon Lake Gorge created after flood in 2002 , Canyon Lake Dam