Home of Ben Leaton

Leaton built on the ruins of El Fortín de San José, a Spanish fort of 1773 that stood empty after 1810 until Juan Bustillos made it his home in 1830. His adobe L ran 200 feet along the river, with walls eighteen inches thick and a crenellated parapet. Before Fort Davis it was the only fortification on the American side between Eagle Pass and El Paso, and the army used it as an unofficial headquarters. Emilio Langberg accused Leaton of trading guns to Indians for horses stolen in Mexico. The state acquired the site in 1967.

What the plaque says

Home of Ben Leaton First Anglo-American farmer in Presidio County. In August 1848, Mr. Leaton acquired the building and it has since been known as Fort Leaton. (1936)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Leaton State Historic Site — steps away
  The adobe trading post on the Rio Grande below Presidio, where digging has rewritten the stories told about it and a self-guided walk leads through its rebuilt rooms.

More markers nearby

• Presidio del Norte — steps away
• Mission del Apostol Santiago — steps away
• Captain Henry Skillman, C.S.A. — 3.2 mi
• Native Peoples of La Junta de los Rios — 6.3 mi