Explored in 1541 on behalf of Spain by Francisco de Coronado, Stonewall County was visited by Texans as early as the 1840's and mapped in 1849 by a U.S. Army expedition led by Capt. Randolph Marcy. Its salt deposits supplied early settlers and hunters, and it was the site of Rath City, a buffalo hunters' capital, from 1876 to 1879. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1888. It was named in honor of Confederate General Thomas Johathan "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863), whose courage and fighting skill inspired Texas soldiers in the Civil War. Its first county seat, Rayner, was replaced in 1898 by Aspermont, named for its high location.