Pleasanton, named for early Texas settler John Pleasants by John Bowen, San Antonio's first Anglo-American postmaster, was founded in September 1858 at the juncture of the Atascosa River and Bonita Creek as the county seat of Atascosa County, with financial assistance from Henry L. Radaz. The first courthouse in Pleasanton, the second in the county, stood on this site. During the Civil War in 1862, men from this and surrounding counties met here to form Company E, 32nd Texas Volunteer Cavalry, Confederate Army, under Captain Lewis Maverick. In a region thick with Longhorns since Spanish and Indian days, Pleasanton became a cattlemen's capital. Beginning in the 1860s, the Stock Raisers' Association of Western Texas often convened here, and it was the place of publication of the Western Stock Journal, founded in 1873. Hardiest and most skillful cowboys gathered here, including those driving herds from the Mexican border to shipping points in Kansas; in the spring of 1873 they drove 43,000 Atascosa County cattle up the trail. Pleasanton remained county seat until 1911 and continued to grow. In 1961 it absorbed North Pleasanton, founded in 1912 as the site for San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad shops. The county's largest town, it is known for live oak trees and commerce in beef, peanuts, and petroleum.