Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0099/00996.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00996}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{The Big Bend
Chapter 8: Historic Sites Of The Big Bend}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Tyler, Ronnie C.}
$Affiliation{National Park Service;U.S. Department Of The Interior}
$Subject{located
park
grande
road
fort
rio
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$Date{1984}
$Log{}
Title:       The Big Bend
Book:        Chapter 8: Historic Sites Of The Big Bend
Author:      Tyler, Ronnie C.
Affiliation: National Park Service;U.S. Department Of The Interior
Date:        1984

Chapter 8: Historic Sites Of The Big Bend

     Although some Big Bend place names recall the days of the Spaniards and
Indians, most are of more recent origin, reflecting the Anglo-American society
that settled the region as well as the pragmatic and common character of the
settlers.  The hopes and dreams of people, as well as their philosophy and
vision, can often be seen in the names they apply to their surroundings.  The
dominant human thread running through the history of the Big Bend is that
survival requires hard work.  Practicality and directness are virtues in such
circumstances, as the many obvious names signify.

     In such country little was done if it did not have to be.  Thus many
landmarks went without names until 1903 when surveyor Arthur A. Stiles
conducted a study of the region.  He consulted the local citizens before
applying the place names to his map.  M. A. Ernst, storekeeper and justice of
the peace in Boquillas, convened a jury for the purpose of considering and
approving place names.  Each member had a topographical feature named for him,
but as Stiles reported, "there were barely enough people living in the country
to furnish names for all the places."  So they resorted to friends and
relatives.  Many of the more exotic sounding Spanish and Indian names were
consequently forgotten. (In fairness to Ernst's jury, it must be pointed out
that frequently the previously awarded names were unknown to them and have
only been turned up by recent research.)

     Most geographical features have obvious names.  Mule Ears Peak is perhaps
the best example.  Located in the southwestern reaches of the Chisos, near
Trap Mountain, these durable peaks were probably named by teamsters who were
coaxing their mule teams through the Big Bend.  Cow Heaven Mountain has a more
obscure origin.  Located northwest of Mariscal Mountain, this formation
reportedly got its name when a local rancher observed that the land was so
barren that a cow "would have to go to Heaven" if stranded on it, because
there was no grass.  Casa Grande, Santa Elena, Terlingua Creek, Burro Mesa,
Mariscal, Boquillas, and numerous other points illustrate the Spanish-Mexican
influence. Other names, such as Maverick Mountain, Cow Heaven, and Dogie
Mountain, testify to the importance of the ranching industry.

     It took little imagination to apply the names of common reptiles and
animals, plants or legends to prominent landmarks Panther Peak and Spring,
Rattlesnake Mountain, Alamo, Willow, and Cottonwood Creeks, Ash and Oak
Springs, Chisos Mountains.  The presence of the National Park Service is
evident in such names as Vernon Bailey Peak, Roger Toll Peak, George Wright
Peak, and Carter Peak.  Early pioneers are honored by such names as Nevill
Springs, Stillwell Mountain, and Roy's Peak.

     The land is still being named.  During a recent study of the park, the
Geological Survey searched for historic names for prominent landmarks, but
applied their own creations when no historic names could be found.  Such
minute naming of features is only possible, or necessary, after the
development of exact mapping techniques and aerial photography, and large
numbers of visitors want to know what each hill or border is called and why.

     The following guide lists only the most important extant historical
sites.  Most of them can be reached by car, but some require travel over
primitive roads or strenuous hikes.  Additional interpretative material is
available at park headquarters on the better known sites.  A park ranger
should be consulted before traveling in the back country.

Barker Lodge

     Once a NPS ranger station, today a research station associated with the
"Man and the Biosphere" project.  Located northwest of Boquillas Canyon on a
spur road.

The Basin Of The Chisos Mountains

     Site of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp in 1934 that prepared the
way for the national park.  Now lodging facilities and a restaurant are
located there.

Comanche Trail Marker

     A historical marker at Persimmon Gap commemorates the hectic past of the
great Comanche War Trail.  Beyond the gap the trail divided into several
paths.  One path crosses the Rio Grande near Lajitas, today a small community
with a general store and a post office.  Often a mile wide and lined with the
bones of horses and cattle in the 19th century, the trail was the route
Comanches took to and from Mexico during the raids of the "Comanche Moon,"
which one historian called the most sustained and devastating assault by one
civilization on another.

La Coyota

     An abandoned Mexican farm village of some 10 adobe and stone ruins
clustered on the west bank of Alamo Creek as it flows onto the Rio Grande
floodplain.  Across the creek, on an eminence overlooking the village, is a
Mexican cemetery.  Located along the paved road from Castolon to Santa Elena
Canyon.

Emory Peak

     One of the highest peaks in Texas and the highest point in the Chisos
Mountains at 7,835 feet.  Named after Maj. William H. Emory, head of the
Boundary Survey team that explored the Rio Grande in 1852.  Although the
engineers never climbed the peak, they used it as a point of reference
throughout their survey.  A hiking trail leads from the Basin to the top.

G-4 Ranch

     In 1880 the G-4 Ranch covered 55,000 acres of open range in Southern
Brewster County (Survey Block G-4).  This ranching operation consisted of
6,000 head of cattle, controlled by 10 cowboys and a foreman. The cowboys
worked out of three camps; one at Aqua Frio, 18 miles north of Terlingua Creek
near Santa Elena Canyon, and a main camp west of Chisos at Oak Spring.

Glenn Springs

     Located 9 miles down the unimproved Glenn Springs Road from the junction
on the Panther Junction-Rio Grande Village paved road.  The site of one of the
earliest wax camps in the Park, Glenn Springs was also an army station and a
small settlement.  It is best known for the bandit raid that occurred in 1916.
The rifle pits can still be seen lining the crest of the low ridge that
overlooks the settlement site, along with the remains of a water system that
brought water into the settlement and wax works.  A large ranch house was
located here; the holding pen, corral, and dipping chute are still visible.

Johnson Ranch

     Located about 16 miles east of Castolon on the unimproved river road.
Johnson's Ranch was a successful ranch, a border trading post, a wayside stop
for travelers, and a landing area for flyers during the border troubles in
1919.  After Elmo Johnson purchased the ranch in 1928. the landing field was
developed and officially opened by the U.S. Army on July 6, 1929.  Its purpose
was to train young aviators and to serve as a lookout station and check point
on the International Boundary.  Johnson occupied the ranch until the Park
Service purchased the land.

La Noria

     Located a few miles up the unimproved Old Ore Road from the junction on
the Panther Junction-Rio Grande Village road.  The name is Spanish for "The
Well."  When the region was farmed, La Noria became a small village known for
the post office which operated there and as a stopover point for travelers.
It was formally called Old Boquillas when the first map of the area was
published; changed its name to La Noria when the village moved to its present
site on the Rio Grande.  There are few visible remains today.

Luna Jacal

     About midway on the unimproved road between Maverick and Santa Elena
Canyon.  One of the most photographic ruins in the park, the jacal of Gilberto
Luna illustrates the struggle of man versus the elements in the Big Bend.
Luna himself lived to the age of 109.

Mariscal Mine

     Located south of Glenn Springs on the unimproved river road, the main
processing plant, building, paymaster's office, superintendent's house,
employee's residences, company store, barracks and brick kiln still remain.
Although the view from the mine is magnificent, the area is dotted with open
mine shafts and extreme caution must be used in viewing the site.

Old Sam Nail Ranch

     The remains of the adobe house built by Sam Nail in 1916 stand south of
Santa Elena Junction, on the road to Castolon.  His windmill and water tank
continue to be a watering place for birds and other wildlife. Recommended as a
pleasant picnicking and bird-watching area.

Persimmon Gap

     The point at which the Great Comanche Trail penetrated the Santiago
Mountains.  Now the north entrance to the Park.  A Historical Site Marker on
Tex. 185 from Marathon points out the spot where the trail crossed the
mountains.

Wilson Ranch

     Located on the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive (or Castolon Road), about 7
miles south of Santa Elena Junction.  Homer Wilson, a relative latecomer to
the Big Bend, built a line camp for his profitable ranch.  The remains of the
living quarters and outbuildings are probably the best preserved in the park.
Here can be seen all the functions of a successful ranch's line camp: the
bunkhouse, cistern, corral and stubbing post, dipping chute, and chicken coop
and pens.  A trail leads from the overlook to the ranch.

Castolon

     Named after a settler called Castulo, the village was first a subpost of
the border patrol (1910-14), then the site of an army post during the border
troubles with Mexico.  The mountain identified with Castolon is Cerro
Castellan - from the Spanish word meaning castle.  Located just above the
river on the Castolon road, the village is a popular visitor stop.  Farming,
commerce, border troubles, and local dwellings - the four major historical
themes of the Big Bend National Park - are all represented here.

Dorgan Farm House

     Of exceptional architectural interest, this house stands just above the
river road between Castolon and Santa Elena Canyon.  It commands an
outstanding view of the Chisos Mountains, the Rio Grande floodplain and the
Sierra del Carmen as they stretch into Mexico.  The huge stone fireplace in
the central room is constructed from large slabs of petrified wood.  Four huge
ceiling beams (only two remain) radiated from the center point to the four
corners.

Old Castolon

     The Old Castolon Store, located here, is probably one of the oldest
buildings in the National Park.  It was a border trading post from the days
when Castolon was first settled.  Founded by Cipriano Hernandez about 1900.

Santa Elena Canyon

     At the end of the Castolon road.  The most spectacular of the major
canyons of the Big Bend, Santa Elena was one of the last to be floated and
documented.  The Boundary Survey of 1852 bypassed it, believing that their
fragile boats would be wrecked.  The first documented trip through the canyon
was by surveyor John T. Gano in 1882.  U.S. Geological Survey member Dr.
Robert T. Hill took the first photographs of the interior of the canyon in
1899.

Sublett Farm House

     Near the Dorgan residence above the river road between Castolon and Santa
Elena Canyon.  The Rio Grande floodplain was a fertile area for cultivation of
cotton, corn, and other crops.  The Sublett Farm House is an adobe structure,
of which only the main walls still stand.

Terlingua Abaja

     The name in Spanish means "Lower Terlingua."  Many ruins remain to
suggest the activity that once thrived in this old Mexican village, located
several miles north of the unimproved road between Santa Elena Canyon and
Maverick.  Settled earlier than the milling village of Terlingua, Terlingua
Abaja still has its old adobe chapel and cemetery.

Daniels Ranch

     Located in the west picnic grounds area at Rio Grande Village. Original
owner was J. M. Graham.  The Daniels' Farm Complex dates from about 1920 and
illustrates the cotton farming that flourished in the Rio Grande Valley around
Boquillas.  It was named for John R. Daniels, who owned it when the park was
established.  Of interest architecturally, the structure is of adobe with a
viga and cane ceiling, adobe roof, and flagstone floor.

Hot Springs

     Located on the Rio Grande on the two-mile unimproved spur road off the
Panther Junction-Rio Grande Village road.  Once developed as a health resort
and trading post, this is the site of J. O. Langford's original store, motel,
and residence.  Several hot springs that flow into the Rio Grande near the
confluence of Tornillo Creek gave the site its name, and provided a living for
Langford and his family for several years.  A few small springs still flow but
the major hot springs used by Langford have since been silted in by flooding
from the Rio Grande.  Indian pictographs, kitchen middens, and mortar holes at
the foot of the cliffs near the springs testify to occupation by nomadic
Indian tribes.

Ore Tramway Line

     Visible just off the Boquillas Canyon spur road, the tramway line and
terminal were used near the turn of the century to transport ore from the Del
Carmen silver and lead mine in Mexico, across the Rio Grande, to the terminal
on the American side.  The mine was closed about 1906.

Senator Berkeley Cottage

     Located by the river near the group campground at Rio Grande Village.
This cottage belonged to State Senator Benjamin F. Berkeley of Alpine, who
used it as a vacation residence.  He called it Ojos de Boquillas.  Today it is
a NPS employee residence.

Ernst Tinaja

     Tinaja is Spanish for a large, earthen storage jar.  In the center of the
Ernst Canyon, one mile off the Old Ore Road, is a huge natural cistern in the
limestone cliffs.  It is known as the Ernst Tinaja and is water filled the
year round.

Alpine

     The County Seat of Brewster County is located at the junction of Tex. 67
and 118.  The community began as a section of the Southern Pacific Railroad
and was first called Burgess Springs, then Osborne.  To obtain water rights
from a local rancher the railroad changed the name to Murphyville.  In 1888,
when it became the county seat, local citizens changed its name to Alpine.  It
is still an important rail head for the local ranchers.

Bloys Camp Meeting

     Begun in 1890, the Bloys Camp Meeting is still celebrated at Skillman's
Grove named for Henry Skillman) in the Davis Mountains, west of Fort Davis on
Tex. 166.

Camel Hump (or Horse Mountain)

     Located on Tex 185 between Marathon and Big Bend National Park, about 8
miles south of Marathon, the mountain got its name from the camels that
traipsed through the Big Bend before the Civil War.  Lts. Edward L. Hartz and
William Echols supplied the name in 1859.  Also known as Horse Mountain.

Capote Falls

     Located on private property off Texas 67 in the Cienega Mountains, the
Capote Falls, 175 feet, are the highest falls in Texas.  Capote is Spanish for
Cape.

Chamizal National Memorial

     This memorial, located on Cordova Island in the Rio Grande south of El
Paso, commemorates the peaceful settlement of a 99-year boundary dispute
between the United States and Mexico.  The Chamizal Treaty was signed in 1963.

Fort Davis National Historic Site

     Established along the San Antonio to El Paso road in 1854, Fort Davis was
meant as a way station and protective stronghold for troops and travelers in
the sparsely settled territory.  The post was abandoned in 1891 when there was
no longer a need for army protection.  Located on Tex. 17 at the north end of
the town of Fort Davis.

Fort Lancaster State Historical Site

     This Federal military outpost was established in 1855 along the old
military road from San Antonio to El Paso.  It was finally abandoned in 1868,
after the frontier had bypassed it.  Located 11 miles west of Ozona on U.S.
290.

Fort Pena Colorado

     Four miles southwest of Marathon in Brewster County, the ruins of this
old fort and surrounding grounds are maintained as a county park with picnic
and recreational facilities.  The fort was established in 1880 to protect the
Chihuahua Trail from marauding Mescalero Apaches.  It was abandoned in 1891.

Fort Quitman

     The remains of the fort are located on the Rio Grande off Tex. 192 near
the community of Fort Quitman.  The military installation was established in
1858 and abandoned in 1877.

Fort Stockton

     The stone and adobe ruins of this fort remain north of the business
district of the town of Fort Stockton on Tex. 290 in Pecks County. Located at
Comanche Springs, the fort was built in 1859 to protect the San Antonio-San
Diego Mail Route.  After the Civil War it was garrisoned by Negro troops.  It
was abandoned in 1886.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

     Located in Hudspeth and Culbertson Counties, this is the newest national
park in Texas.  It is noted for its wild, rugged landscape, Permian limestone
fossils, and Signal Peak of 8,751 feet, the highest in Texas.  A campsite and
information center are located off Tex. 62 near Pine Springs Canyon.

Hueco Tanks State Park

     The 738-acre park is located 12 miles northeast of El Paso off Tex. 62.
There is the site of the last Indian battle in El Paso County and the large,
natural limestone cisterns for which the park is named.  The area was long
used by Indians as a campsite and their drawings and pictographs cover the
surrounding caves and cliffs.  The cisterns were also used by wagon trains
heading for California and by the Butterfield stagecoaches.

Lajitas

     Located in southeastern Brewster County on Tex. 170 is Lajitas, which
derives its name from the little flat rocks of the Boquillas formation.
Lajitas means flag stones.  The village is located at the San Carlos ford of
the Rio Grande on the Old Comanche Trail.

Ben Leaton House

     A State park located a few miles downriver from Presidio enroute to
Lajitas.  Formerly called Fortin de San Jose.  Ben Leaton acquired the title
in 1846.  Overlooking the floodplain of the Rio Grande, it is a formidable
structure and served its owners well through several Indian attacks.  Leaton
was one of the earliest merchants and ranchers in the Big Bend country.
Recently restored by the Texas State Park Service.

Marathon

     Probably the site of an Indian culture, settled by white men only after
the Civil War.  A military subpost was established there in 1579, and the town
began in 1882 when the Texas & New Orleans Railroads arrived. Located on Tex.
90 and 385, it is one of the main entrances to Big Bend National Park.

Marfa

     Established in 1881 as a water stop on the Texas & New Orleans Railroads,
Marfa was named by the wife of the railroad president after the heroine of a
Russian novel.  Located on Tex. 90 and 67.

Old Fort Cibolo

     A private fort located off Tex. 67 near Shafter.  Milton Faver built
three fortresses in the Big Bend.  Remains are located near Big Springs
Cibolo, which supplied water for the fort.

Presidio

     Located on the Rio Grande on Tex. 67, Presidio is immediately opposite
Ojinaga, Mexico, and is an important point of entry to and from Mexico.
Originally an outpost of Mexico, called El Presidio del Norte (the fort of the
north), the area was awarded to the U.S. in 1848 by the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo.

Redford

     Located south of Presidio on Tex. 170, Redford is a small farming
community on the Rio Grande.  The settlement was originally Mexican and called
Polvo, which means dust.  It is the site of a fort and a customs station.

Presidio San Carlos

     Located about 15 miles south of Lajitas, the remains of this presidio are
accessible only by foot, horseback, or four-wheel drive vehicle.  Established
in 1771 and occupied until 1787, this presidio is one of the most vivid ruins
in the region.  The presidio stands on a high terrace on the east bank of San
Carlos Creek.  The outside walls are 5 feet high in places; the perimeter
walls of the chapel are over 10 feet high.

Presidio San Vicente

     Located on a small mesa about 1 miles from the San Vicente crossing of
the Rio Grande, this presidio was established in 1771 and abandoned in 1781.
The only thing clearly visible today is the outline of the presidio.  The
upper parts of the adobe walls have melted, concealing the lower parts and any
underlying structures.  Both this presidio and San Carlos are representative
of the defensive alignment along the northern frontier of New Spain in the
1770's.

Shafter

     Between the Chinati and Cienega Mountains on Tex. 67 lies Shafter, a
mining ghost town.  From 1880 to 1940 it was a center for silver mining
activities in Presidio County.  Abandoned mines, machinery and buildings
remain.  Shafter is located 20 miles north of Presidio.

Terlingua

     Located on Tex. 170 a few miles west of Study Butte outside the west
entrance of Big Bend National Park.  Today the site of the World Champion
Chili Cookoff, the village of Terlingua, during its heyday, was the site of
numerous quicksilver mines.  The most important was the Chisos Mining Company,
responsible for most of the remains that are visible today: the general store,
the movie house, the jail house, the chapel, and the two-story house belonging
to the mine owner, Howard Perry.

Ysleta Mission

     Located 8 miles southeast of El Paso on Tex. 80 lies Ysleta, the oldest
permanent settlement in Texas.  The community was founded in 1680. The
missions, San Antonio de las Tiguas (also called Nuestra Senora del Carmen)
and San Miguel del Socorro, were built there in 1682.  Both missions have
suffered the effects of flood, fire, and time, but their ruins remain.