Real County
Leakey, Real County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located on the Edwards Plateau, Real County is in an area of rolling terrain broken by the canyons of the Frio River. Because of raids by Comanche, Apache, and Lipan Apache Indians, white settlement was hindered until after 1881. Mission San Lorenzo de La Santa Cruz was founded by the Spanish in 1762 near present Camp Wood. The county was created on April 3, 1913, from Edwards, Kerr, and Bandera counties. Organized on July 26, 1913, it was named in honor of Julius Real (1860-1944), a prominent businessman and state senator, 1909-1914 and 1924-1928. Leakey, the county seat, was established by John Leakey (1824-1900), a pioneer settler in the region. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Set on the rolling, canyon-cut Edwards Plateau along the Frio River, Real County long resisted Anglo settlement because of raids by the Comanche, Apache, and Lipan Apache, which held back newcomers until after 1881. The Spanish had earlier founded Mission San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz nearby in 1762. The county itself was created and organized in 1913 from parts of Edwards, Kerr, and Bandera counties and named for businessman and state senator Julius Real, with Leakey — founded by pioneer John Leakey — as its seat.
Why it matters
Real County's story compresses centuries of the Texas frontier, from Spanish mission efforts and Native resistance to the late arrival of settlement and formal county government.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Real County sits on the Edwards Plateau, a high limestone tableland that breaks apart into deep canyons along the Frio River. It is beautiful, rugged country: clear water, steep hillsides, and rolling uplands that long made travel and settlement difficult.
For centuries this was Native homeland. Comanche, Apache, and Lipan Apache peoples moved through and lived in the region, and their raids against newcomers kept most white settlement at bay until after 1881. Long before that, Spain had reached into the area and founded a mission near present-day Camp Wood in 1762.
Formal government came late. Real County was not created until April 3, 1913, carved from parts of Edwards, Kerr, and Bandera counties, and it was organized that July. By then much of Texas had long been settled, which makes the county's late start striking.
People & events
The earliest European chapter here belongs to Spain. In 1762 Spanish missionaries founded Mission San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz near present-day Camp Wood. Spanish missions in this region aimed to convert Native peoples and extend Spain's hold on its northern frontier. Like several such efforts on the edge of Apache and Comanche country, this one proved short-lived.
More than a century later, Anglo settlers began to put down roots once Native resistance had ended in the early 1880s. One of them, John Leakey (1824–1900), was a pioneer of the region, and the town he established became the county seat. It still bears his name.
The county itself honors Julius Real (1860–1944), a prominent businessman who served in the Texas Senate from 1909 to 1914 and again from 1924 to 1928. He was in office when the county was created in 1913, which tied his name to the land for good.
Its place in the American story
Real County packs a long stretch of the American frontier into a small space. Here Spain's colonial ambitions, the power of Native nations, and the late arrival of American settlement all overlap, and the same forces shaped much of the Southwest.
The county's story is also a reminder that the frontier did not close all at once. In parts of Texas, settlement ran well behind the rest of the state because Comanche and Apache peoples held their ground. The westward movement was uneven, contested, and sometimes delayed by decades.
Finally, a county created in 1913 shows how American government kept reorganizing the land long after settlement began. New counties were drawn as populations grew and older, larger jurisdictions proved too big to serve scattered residents well.
If you visit
Leakey is a small county seat surrounded by some of the most striking scenery in Texas. As you drive in, watch how the land shifts from rolling plateau to steep canyon walls along the Frio River. That terrain is the same one that shaped centuries of history here.
The marker makes a good starting point for exploring the wider county. Camp Wood, near the site of the old Spanish mission, is within reach and adds a colonial chapter to your trip. Take time to picture this valley as Native homeland, Spanish frontier, and pioneer outpost, all in turn.
The Frio River country is a favorite for travelers who love clear water, winding roads, and quiet small towns. Slow down, enjoy the views, and let the landscape tell you why settlement came here so late.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Julius Real
- · John Leakey
Related events
- · Mission San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
John Leakey
Leakey, TX
John Leakey left Tennessee for Texas in 1847 and pushed steadily westward into the rugged Frio Canyon, where he built a cypress-shingle business under the constant threat of raids during the frontier's most dangerous years. He hauled supplies for the Confederacy, then returned to run a sawmill, ranch, and even a school, and in 1883 the town that bears his name was laid out on land he donated. His story braids together settlement, industry, and the hard realities of the contested Hill Country frontier.
Leakey Cemetery
Leakey, TX
Dating to at least 1881 and once known as the Floral Cemetery, this burial ground sits on land John and Nancy Leakey sold for a dollar and a cemetery plot. Its oldest documented graves are those of Sara Catherine McLaurin and fifteen-year-old Allen Lease, killed in April 1881 in what is remembered as the last Indian raid in the Frio Canyon area. Among more than 900 burials lie pioneers, Civil War veteran John Colter Brice, elected officials, and countless children lost to measles, typhoid, diphtheria, and influenza.
Catherine McLauren
Leakey, TX
On April 19, 1881, a Lipan Apache band raided the Frio Canyon home of 'Kate' McLauren while she was there with her three small children and a neighbor boy. Shot during the attack, she still managed to send her six-year-old daughter for help before dying that night after her husband's return. When a cemetery was established at Leakey, she and the boy killed in the raid were among its first burials, in what is remembered as the last Indian raid in the canyon.
Site of McLaurin Massacre
Leakey, TX
On April 19, 1881, a band of Lipan Apaches raided the McLaurin homestead in Frio Canyon while John McLaurin was away. In the violence, teenager Allen Lease and Catherine "Kate" McLaurin were shot and killed, though her three small children survived unharmed — six-year-old Maud running for help. Neighbors and soldiers from Fort Clark trailed the raiders 70 miles and into Mexico, in what is remembered as the last Indian raid in the canyon.