Residents raised food for their own households in small garden plots along the creek and acequias. They also sold their produce in open-air public markets.
As late as the 1830s, though, sparse development left the community unprotected from Comanche raids. Their isolation was compounded by having to rely on easily eroded low water crossings and crude roads that didn’t make travel or transportation easy.
Then, in the mid-1830s, came deep political unrest—followed by war. And once again, the history of San Pedro Creek changed course.