Early Explorers in Llano County

Miranda's trip followed a rumor. In 1753 Lt. Juan Galvan, scouting a site for a mission to the Apache (Nde), heard from Indians of a cerro de almagre, a hill of red ocher, and that August Apache guides led men from San Antonio to it. Miranda's party opened a shaft at the hill, now called the Riley Mountains, named the mine San Jose del Alcazar and promised a mine to every settler in Texas. The viceroy's assayer wanted thirty mule-loads for testing, and Miranda's bid for a presidio failed. The mine was never officially opened.

What the plaque says

Early Explorers in Llano County By commission of the Governor of Spanish Texas, Bernardo de Miranda in 1756 examined Cerro del Almagre, a red ochre hill supposedly rich in silver. His party of 23 from San Antonio struck Honey Creek near here, then went to the junction of the Llano and Colorado rivers. Three pounds of ore from Cerro del Almagre assayed only ten ounces of silver to 100 pounds of ore. Plans for further explorations were therefore abandoned as such low yield; coupled with transport problems and Indian threats, made mining seem unattractive. (1971)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery — 11 mi
  A free federal hatchery below Inks Dam on the Colorado, with thirty production ponds that draw birds and a look at how fish are raised from egg to harvest.
• Longhorn Cavern State Park — 11 mi
  A cave carved by an underground river in the Hill Country, cleared of mud by hand in the 1930s and reached down 52 stone steps on a guided tour.
• Inks Lake State Park — 12 mi
  A state park on a constant-level lake of the Colorado, between Buchanan and Inks dams, with pink granite and gneiss at the water and CCC work along Park Road 4.
• Llano County Courthouse Square — 12 mi
  The 1893 Romanesque courthouse on Llano's square, built after a fire at the height of a boom that was meant to make the granite town an iron city.

More markers nearby

• Packsaddle Mountain — 1.3 mi
• Granite Industry in Llano County — 9.2 mi
• C.S.A. Salt Works — 9.2 mi
• Hoover's Valley Cemetery — 10 mi