Near the course of the Canadian River, men from Santa Fe passed this spot as early as the days of the American Revolution on trips to meet traders from San Augustine, Nacogdoches, and other Spanish towns of East Texas. In 1786, Pedro Vial was commissioned by the Spanish governor at Santa Fe to establish this route and secure a direct connection from Santa Fe to San Antonio, Texas, with access to East Texas towns. The Great Spanish Road served colonial Texas well and foreshadowed 20th Century use of the route as part of a great intercontinental highway. In 1877, Bates and Beals, northern investors, established the first ranch in Potter County 1½ miles east of this site; it ran the LX brand and once employed a cowboy named Will Rogers, later internationally famous as a humorist. In 1878, William Pitcher opened the first store in Potter County a few hundred feet west of this site; nearby Pitcher Creek was named for him, and he figured in a desperate robbery from which LX cowhands rescued him.