Burnet County grew from the work of pioneer settlers including Samuel L. Holland, the first settler in 1848, Logan Vandeveer, Peter Kerr, William H. Magill, Noah Smithwick, Jesse Burnam, R. H. Hall, General Adam R. Johnson, Captain Christian Dorbandt, and others who entered the wilderness and established the first traces of human habitation. They opened channels of trade and industry, built the first schools and churches, and, after Indian depredations and the scars of the Civil War, returned to take up the ax and plow again and bring new acres into cultivation. Many died in obscurity and were buried in the county they had adopted. Fort Croghan was established here on March 18, 1849, abandoned by troops in December 1853, and permanently abandoned in 1855. Burnet County was created on February 5, 1852, and organized on August 28, 1852, by commissioners Logan Vandeveer, William H. Magill, and R. H. Hall. Early landmarks included Holland Springs, the first settlement in 1848, Fort Croghan in 1849, Mormon Mill in 1850, Black's Fort in 1851, and Smithwick Mill in 1855.