Travis County, Texas

Travis County is located in Central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat and most populous city is Austin, the state's capital. The county was established in 1840 and is named in honor of William Barret Travis, the commander of the Republic of Texas forces at the Battle of the Alamo. Travis County is part of the Austin–Round Rock–Georgetown metropolitan area. It is located along the Balcones Fault, the boundary between the Edwards Plateau to the west and the Blackland Prairie to the east.

Early inhabitants of Central Texas date to between 12,000 to 22,000 years ago as evidenced by the discovery of sites like Leanderthal Lady ("Leanne") at the Wilson-Leonard site near Leander, Texas.

Another two of the oldest Paleo-Indian archeological sites in Texas, the Levi Rock Shelter and Smith Rock Shelter, are in southwest and southeast Travis County, respectively.

In downtown Austin, archeological excavations have revealed that the hilltop where the French Legation now sits was utilized during the Archaic period (North America), possibly 5,000 years ago. Even earlier artifacts dating to the Paleo-Indians period show that humans may have used the area as early as 9,000 years ago.

Continuous occupation of Travis County continues into the Toyah Phase represented by sites like the Toyah Bluff Site in southeast Travis County along Onion Creek. The Toyah Phase is the last widespread prehistoric pattern prior to the arrival of Europeans.

The region (along with all of modern Texas) was claimed by the Spanish Empire in the 1600s, but at the time no attempt was made to settle the area (or even to explore it fully).

In 1691 Domingo Terán de los Ríos was instructed to make a tour of Spanish Texas with the goal of establishing missions among the Tejas (Hasinai), keep records of "geography, natives, and products" and investigate rumors of foreign settlements on the coast (the French). Terán's entrada took them through Travis County crossing the Colorado River near what would later be called the Montopolis ford, which today is part of El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail.

In 1709 Captain Pedro de Aguirre led an expedition with Fathers Antonio de Olivares and Isidro de Espinosa (Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre Expedition) from San Juan Bautista Mission along the Rio Grande River in Mexico into Travis County hoping to meet with the Tejas Indians (Hasinai). They reached the south bank the Colorado River in or near Austin in April, but found the Tejas were not there. They were however visited by members of a number of Indigenous Peoples: Yojuan (AKA Yojuane), Simomo, and Tusonibi. Guides for the Spanish included Indigenous Peoples they had encountered just previously living near San Pedro Springs: Chaularame, Payaya, Sana, Sijame, and Siupan. With orders not to cross the Colorado the expedition returned to Mexico.