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Settlers were drawn to the
area after Moses Hughes and his invalid wife, Hannah (Berry), moved near the site of what is now Lampasas in November
1853, seeking to take advantage of the medicinal springs. Another early settler was John Burleson, who had received
1,280 acres, including the site of the future town of Lampasas, for his services during the Texas Revolution. In
July 1855 his daughter Elizabeth and her husband, George W. Scott, laid out the town of Burleson in what was then
Coryell County. At this time the town consisted of about 500 to 600 people, most of them living in tents and wagons.
Other communities established in the 1850s include Adamsville, Gholson, Kempner, and McAnelly's Bend (now Bend,
in San Saba County).
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On February 1, 1856, in response to a petition signed by 135 Lampasas
County citizens, the Sixth Texas Legislature formed Lampasas County, named after the Lampasas River, from parts
of Travis, Bell, and Coryell counties. Burleson, renamed Lampasas, was made the county seat, and the new county
was organized on March 10, 1856. Two years later the northeastern corner of Lampasas County became part of Hamilton
County.
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During the 1850s and 1860s
settlers in Lampasas County suffered from Comanche raids and outlawry. The Lampasas Guards were organized in Lampasas
on July 1, 1859, to ward off Indian attacks, but aside from this and an occasional Texas Ranger passing through,
there was little law and order until well after the Civil War. As white hunters began to kill off the buffalo for
profit and sport, the Indians began to resent encroachment on their hunting grounds and increased their raids on
the settlements. Herds were still plentiful through the 1860s, but had largely disappeared by 1875.
Cities and Towns
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Bend (unincorporated; partly in San Saba County)
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Copperas Cove (partly in Bell and Coryell Counties)
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Kempner
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Lampasas
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Lometa
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