for dispute. Nevertheless, development proceeded and a settlement began to grow around the mining operation. A post office opened in 1885 and took the name "Shafter" after the colonel. Company housing was provided for the miners. Company stores provided their staples and a company doctor provided medical care. The American Metal Co. of Texas acquired the property in 1926. Operations ceased from July 1930 until 1934 due to low silver prices. By 1940, the quality of the ore was 10.7 ounces of silver per ton. The recorded production of the Presidio Mine between 1883 and 1940 was 30,972,286.15 ounces of silver. Production from 1927 to 1940 alone was 11,809,163.8 ounces of silver, 5,406 ounces of gold, and 7,678,049.8 ounces of lead. United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died at nearby Cibolo Creek Ranch on February 13, 2016. Geology At the Presidio Mine, which started operation in 1880, the Permian Cibolo limestone formation is overlain unconformably by the Presidio formation, a massive dark-grey Cretaceous limestone. The Shafter limestone rests unconformably on the Presidio formation. Ore deposits are found in the Permian limestone and consist of supergene replacement minerals argentite and cerargyrite along the bedding. Veins and replacement mineralization are present in the overlying Cretaceous beds. Lodes in the Permian limestone include Manto ore deposits and thrust fault deposits, while those in the Cretaceous rocks are steep veins along normal faults. Smaller mines have operated in the district at various times, but the Presidio remains the largest and most continuous. Decline In the 1940s, faced with increased production costs, a shortage of miners, and an attempt to unionize those who were employed, the American Metal Company simply shut down their operation. Even so, as the businesses established there also catered to the two military bases in the county, Marfa Army Air Field and Fort D.A. Russell, Shafter continued to support a population of some 1,500. When Marfa Air Field closed in December 1945 and Fort Russell in 1946, Shafter went into rapid decline. Today, Shafter is home to only a few families and, over the past several decades, has registered a population ranging from 11 to 30 persons. Still, as noted above, interest and activity are renewed at Shafter. Given rising values for precious metals and modern mining and processing techniques, the little town may well live again. Education Shafter is zoned to schools in the Marfa Independent School District. See