Finding Rancho de Pataguilla

It is said that in the rich grazing lands between the San Antonio River and the Guadalupe River lies the cradle of Texas ranching. Nestled in the area was the once-flourishing Rancho de Pataguilla — 66,420 acres where Spanish and Native American vaqueros cared for sheep, cattle, and other livestock from Mission San Juan Capistrano in San Antonio in the 1740s. Local Wilson County historian Maurine Liles — credited alongside archaeologist David Nickels and the late historian Gene Maeckel for its discovery — said the ranch’s existence was discovered “by chance” around 2010, during preparation for Wilson County’s sesquicentennial. “That’s...

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