The Mackenzie Trail was a significant route in Texas history, used in part by French explorer Pierre Vial and Spanish explorer Jose Mares on separate expeditions in 1786-88, and later by Captain Randolph B. Marcy in 1849 and Robert E. Lee in 1856. In 1871, Colonel Ranald Mackenzie sent Tonkawa scouts and cavalrymen from Fort Griffin to find a trail to the High Plains for use in a campaign against the Northern Comanches and their allies, the Kiowas, in response to an attack. The route crossed the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River .5 mi SE, followed it west to Double Mountain by way of Cottonwood Spring 2 mi W, then continued northwest to the Caprock. Cottonwood Spring had long been used by indigenous peoples and later became part of the Comanche war trail system. Mackenzie led 600 troops along this trail in pursuit of Native Americans in 1871 and in later expeditions, and the route was also used during the Red River War of 1874-75. In 1876, Charles C. Rath established Rath City on the trail 15 mi W and used the route to support the buffalo hide business. As the era of the open range ended in the 1880s, farmers bought property and settled in the area, forming rural communities, while large ranches were also established, including W.F. Rayner’s Call Bar Ranch. Rayner also founded the Rayner community on the trail, which became Stonewall County’s first county seat in 1889. By 1909, the trail had been replaced by the Stamford & Northwestern Railroad. In less than 40 years of formal use, the Mackenzie Trail significantly influenced the development of Stonewall County and the Southern and Rolling Plains.