Charco de la Pita was a famed camping place within one mile of this site along the Old Pita Road, the first road in Texas. The Pita Road extended from the San Juan Bautista mission, about 25 miles down the Rio Grande from present-day Eagle Pass, to missions in San Antonio and Nacogdoches. Domingo Ramon, who opened the Pita Road, camped here on May 12, 1716, and Martin de Alarcon camped here on April 20, 1718, while on his way to establish the city of San Antonio. The road remained active until about 1765, when fierce Commanche Indians, newcomers to the area, led to establishment of a safer route, the Lower Presidio Road, about 25 miles to the southeast. With the arrival of a small detachment of Spanish troops, the Upper Presidio Road, a more direct route from San Antonio to San Juan Bautista, was opened circa 1807, and that old road would have intersected this highway about 2.7 miles northwest at the top of a low ridge.