Fort Ewell Creek: Historical Significance and Geographic Overview
Revised by: William V. Scott
Published: January 1, 1995
Updated: December 12, 2023
Fort Ewell Creek rises at the junction of the East Prong and West Prong of Fort Ewell Creek and the intersection of Natalia Canal of the Medina Irrigation Company (MICO), two miles east of Chacon Reservoir and 3½ miles north of Natalia in southeastern Medina County (at 29°14' N, 98°51' W), and runs south for 4½ miles, paralleling Farm Road 471, where it crosses State Highway 132, one mile southeast of Natalia before converging to its mouth on Chacon Creek (at 29°12' N, 98°52' W), north of it crossing County Road 772. The stream traverses an area of rolling prairie surfaced by clay loams that support mesquite and grasses.
Fort Ewell Creek takes its name from Fort Ewell Road. Fort Ewell Road traces its origin as the Lower Presidio Road that went through Atascosa County to the southeast in 1716. The Lower Presidio Road (see OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD) was in operation in the mid-1700s and was used until the Spanish had better defense from American Indian raids and could open the Upper Presidio Road, which was a short route to the San Juan Bautista Mission from San Antonio, in 1807. The name Fort Ewell Creek dates to the middle of the nineteenth century, when the road crossed toward Fort Ewell, a federal frontier fort which was established about twenty miles down the Nueces River from present-day Cotulla in 1852. Early accounts in the 1850s indicate that the Brummet Settlement in northeastern Frio County was located between the Old Fort Ewell Road and the Old Laredo Road.
Fort Ewell Road still operated as Bigfoot Road in the twenty-first century. In 1985 Medina County placed a local historical marker for nearby sites, where Bigfoot Road intersects State Highway 173 and County Road 773, one mile east of Devine. The marker includes Fort Ewell Road and states, “…Fort Ewell Road, which cut off from the old San Antonio de Bexar Road at present day Natalia. The road went on a direct course to Fort Ewell….”
Bibliography:
Fort Ewell Creek, Natural Atlas (https://naturalatlas.com/creeks/fort-ewell-830031), accessed December 5, 2023.
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Revised by William V. Scott, “Fort Ewell Creek,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/fort-ewell-creek.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
RBFAF
- January 1, 1995
- December 12, 2023
