Milton Faver
The earliest large-scale cattleman to settle in
the Big Bend, Milton (Don Meliton) Faver
prospered against seemingly impossible odds to
become the first cattle baron west of the Pecos.
While operating a freighting business on the
Chihuahua Trail, he moved his family to
Presidio del Norte and opened a general store
about 1855. After accumulating a large herd of
cattle in Mexico he moved his family and vaque-
ros to the mountain country north of Presidio
and made his headquarters on Cibolo Creek in
1857. He established two other ranches at near-
by La Cienega and La Morita. Springs flowed
abundantly on all three ranches, providing water
for livestock and agriculture. In the fertile fields
surrounding the ranches, Faver devised and
installed irrigation systems that supplied water
for vegetables, grain, and large peach orchards.
El Fortin del Cibolo, ranch headquarters, served
as a supply station for the U. S. Army quarter-
master division at Ft. Davis. Troops used the
ranch as a point of departure for forays into
Indian occupied regions to the west and north.
Celebrated for his hospitality, Faver was known
as a gentleman of means who lived in style. He
died in December 1889 and was buried on his
ranch at Cibolo.
Maiya’s
Texas Historical Commission 1992
Photo courtesy Archives of the Big Bend, Bryan Wildenthal Memorial Library, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas
Milton Faver
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less of a fortress, but with thick adobe walls and
gun ports. The third ranch, La Morita, was
apparently the least fortified.
Those were the days of open range, and
Faver’s Mexican longhorns ran wild and multi-
plied. It was said he did not know how many
head of cattle he owned, as many were unbrand-
ed and ran wild in the rugged country. He also
raised sheep and goats, primarily at La Morita.
Orchards and vegetable gardens were watered
from the springs that still flow today.
As many as 85 Mexican vaqueros and workers
made their homes on Faver’s ranches, receiving
two bits (12 and a half cents) a day, plus food,
shelter, clothing and medical attention.
Operating like a medieval feudal lord, Faver pros-
pered in spite of frequent Apache raids, which
were launched even on the fortified buildings.
Most of his herds were taken at least twice, and
during a raid on La Morita Faver’s foreman was
killed and the foreman’s wife and two sons taken
captive.
Favor sold cattle and other goods to Fort Davis,
and Cibolo served for a time as a sub-post and
supply depot for Army patrols.
continued on page 27
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his lengthy marker would seem to tell the
whole story of this frontier rancher, but for
a man like “Don Meliton” Faver, it only
touches the highlights. Like many of the first
Anglo settlers in the Big Bend Country, his early
life is somewhat of a mystery. He was born
around 1821, and he claimed he was born in
Missouri in one census and Virginia in another.
The most colorful tale of how he came to the
Southwest claims he and another man got in a
fight in Missouri. Thinking he had killed the
other, Faver headed west ahead of the law. Years
later, the story goes, he learned the other man
had lived and that he was not a fugitive.
Somehow he found himself in Meoque,
Chihuahua, where he worked at a flour mill.
There he met and marred Francisca Ramirez.
He operated a freighting business for a time.
Faver and his bride then moved to Presidio del
Norte (present-day Ojinaga) and opened a gener-
al store. Around 1857, he crossed the river and
established his three ranches next to dependable
springs near today’s Shafter, in country that was
still largely controlled by the Apaches.
His adobe headquarters at Cibolo were appar-
ently built like the old Spanish presidios, heavily
fortified with towers in opposite corners of the
rectangular walled compound. La Cienega was
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