Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE MAIL COACHES
Although it operated for only 2½ years or so between 1858 and 1861, the Butterfield Overland Mail Company
spurred a revolution in American communications and transportation. Before that time, a letter bound for Califor-
nia from the east was sent via steamship around Cape Horn. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company's stage-
coaches made it possible for a letter to move 2700 miles from St Louis to San Francisco via El Paso, Tucson and
Los Angeles in a then-breathtaking 25 days. (Take that, FedEx.)
The Butterfield Overland's legacy is well known throughout west Texas, but it's especially well preserved here
at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. At 5534ft, the Pinery stagecoach station - one of 200 on the route - was
the highest in the system. Four times a week, a bugle call would herald the arrival of the stagecoach and its cargo
of mail and passengers.
The Pinery station operated for 11 months, until the original route was abandoned for a new road through Fort
Stockton and Fort Davis - a thoroughfare better protected from Native American attacks. But the Pinery station
lived on for decades after as a refuge for emigrants, trail drivers and outlaws.
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Guadalupe Mountains National Park
We won't go so far as to call it Texas' best-kept secret, but the fact is that a lot of Texans
aren't even aware of the
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
( 915-828-3251;
www.nps.gov/gumo
; US
Hwy 62/180; 7-day pass adult/child under 16yr $5/free)
. It's just this side of the Texas-New Mexico
state line and a long drive from practically everywhere in the state.
Despite its low profile, it is a Texas high spot, both literally and figuratively. At 8749ft,
Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in the Lone Star State. The fall foliage in McKittrick
Canyon is the best in west Texas, and more than half the park is a federally designated
wilderness area.
The National Park Service has deliberately curbed development to keep the park wild.
There are no restaurants or indoor accommodations and only a smattering of services and
programs. There are also no paved roads within the park, so whatever you want to see,
you're going to have to work for it. But if you're looking for some of the best hiking and
high-country splendor Texas can muster, you should put this park on your itinerary.
History
Until the mid-19th century, the Guadalupe Mountains were used exclusively by Mescalero
Apaches, who hunted and camped in the area. Members of this tribe, who called them-
selves Nde, became the hunted starting in 1849 when the US Army began a ruthless three-
