Mitchell County was created in 1876 from Bexar District and named for Asa Mitchell, a soldier in the Battle of Velasco in 1832 and a member of the consultation of 1835, and for his brother Eli, a soldier in the battle at Gonzales in 1835. It was organized in 1881. Colorado City, the county seat, was the cattle capital of Texas in the 1880s. The land is rolling terrain broken by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Its mineral deposits include brick and tile clays, potash, gypsum, salt, and oil. The discovery well of the Permian Basin oil fields came in at Westbrook. Small grains, cotton, hay, and forage are principal crops, and livestock is also raised.