The town grew quickly through the 19th century with the expansion of the garrison at Fort Clark for the Indian Wars. The town's fortunes were tied to the fort. For many years, it was the base of the famous Buffalo Soldiers, made up of African Americans. Demographically, Brackettville had a larger proportion of Black Seminoles (people of mixed African American and Seminole ancestry, who originated in Florida) than the rest of West Texas, as they had been recruited by the US to act as scouts for the Buffalo Soldiers and settled with their families in the town. During the slavery years, they had been living in a settlement in northern Mexico to escape US conditions. Their language developed in Florida, Afro-Seminole Creole, is still spoken by some in Brackettville.