- Horsehead crossing
Horsehead Crossing is a ford on the Pecos River, Pecos County, Texas. Historically it was major landmark on the trail west as one of a few fordable sections of the Pecos in West Texas, and as a first source of water for about 75 miles on the route from the east.
General location as marked by state historical marker is 31°14' N, 102°29' W, though there is debate as to possible alternate locations in that area.
HISTORY
Horsehead Crossing was primary crossing on the Pecos for the Comanche Trail from the
Llano Estacado down into Mexico, and probably a prehistoric crossing by earlier Native Americans.Ford was mapped in 1849 by
Randolph B. Marcy , head of army escort for parties on way to California gold rush. In1858, the crossing became an important stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from St. Louis to San Francisco. In 1866Charles Goodnight andOliver Loving blazed their famous cattle-trail, which came to this point and turned upriver.Decline of cattle drives and completion of two railroads across west Texas in the early 1880s caused abandonment of the crossing.
Source of the name “Horsehead” has been attributed to horse skulls said to have marked the banks. This may have been due to Comanches that marked the crossing for easier location, or the abundance of animals that died at the crossing from drowning, quick-sand, or over-drinking while being driven along the Comanche Trail returning from Mexico.
REFERENCES
* Patrick Dearen, Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier, Texas Christian University Press, 1988
* Horsehead Crossing, The Handbook of Texas Online [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/rih1.html]
* Julie Breaux, Bits & pieces reveal history near Pecos River crossing, Austin American Stateman, 10/15/1998
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