First timer? In this formerly once-a-day blog (and now pretty much a once-every-three-or-four days blog), I have my computer select a random latitude and longitude that puts me somewhere in the continental United States (the lower 48). I call this “landing.” I keep track of the watersheds I land in, as well as the town I land near. I do some internet research to hopefully find something of interest about my landing location. To find out more about A Landing A Day (like who “Dan” is) please see “About Landin above.
Landing number 2224; A Landing A Day blog post number 652.
Dan: Funny thing. I’ve landed 8 times using my new random lat/long procedure, and three of them have been in my number one long-time USer . . . TX. Haven’t a clue what I’m talking about? Check out my Grand Rapids post (type Grand Rapids into the search box).
Anyway, here’s my regional landing map:
And my local landing map showing (surprise, surprise) that I landed near a bunch of small towns:
I landed about 5 miles from the Pecos River, so my watershed analysis was a no brainer. This was my 17th hit in the Pecos watershed; on to the Rio Grande (45th hit). Here’s a map:
Time for my Google Earth (GE) spaceflight in to the oil fields of West Texas (click on the link, then hit “back” after viewing):
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Here’s a second look at the drilling / production pads in the vicinity of my landing:
It turns out that there’s excellent Street View coverage near my landing:
Although there’s not much that the orange dude has to look at:
This is one flat, arid landscape . . .
I had the orange dude look up and down the road, and he saw this vehicle:
Pro Well Testing and Wireline. This is an oil well servicing company. Wireline refers to equipment that can lower sensors down an oil well to see what’s going on down there . . .
The area is not only flat and arid, it’s also:
This will clearly be a little of this and little of that type of post (accent on the little).
I’ll start with Coyanosa. From Texas Escapes (History in a Pecan Shell):
Coyanosa’s first historic event was the opening of a post office in 1908. Although it closed in 1918, the town was here to stay. Cotton farmers irrigated their fields in the drought-stricken 1950s from freshly drilled wells.
No one thought to count the residents until 1958, when they numbered 200. The post office reopened and in the early 1960s, the town was thriving with eight business and an estimated population of 600.
The infamous fuel shortages of the late 1970s put an end to irrigation and most cotton farms went belly-up. The population declined accordingly and soon it was down to 270. It has since declined to 138 for the 2000 census.
I guess they’re still growing some cotton around Coyanosa (pumpkins, too). Here’s a GE Panoramio shot by RebelCry1 from just south of town:
Doesn’t look like a very healthy cotton crop . .
Anyway, I “filmed” a Coyanosa drive-by using Street View:
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On to Royalty (also from Texas Escapes with minor edits by yours truly):
After oil was discovered in 1927, this town was named after the “royalties” paid to property owners. Royalty had a population of 20 in 1933 and businesses were consistent with the bare-bones necessities of an oil town: cafe, barber, pool hall, hotel, laundry and drugstore. Its high-water mark was reached just prior to WWII with a population of 750 but by 1950 there were only 280. It has now reached the point where nobody bothers to estimate the population.
Great last line.
Once again, using Street View, here’s a quick “spin” at the main intersection of “town” (and, yes, you’re correct: there’s no there there).
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If you can contain your excitement, we’ll move on to Grand Falls. From Texas Escapes:
The original town site was located at the upper falls of the Pecos River, known as the Grand Falls. In the 1880s dams were built that channeled water to power a cotton gin.
The population was dwindling in 1925 due to a severe drought several years prior and a slow economy. Things were looking bleak until oil was discovered and the population doubled to 500 in 1929.
The 50s and 60s saw Grandfalls reach its peak of around 1000 people, mostly involved in the oil business. The 1990 census showed 583 people in Grandfalls.
So where the heck are the Grand Falls of the Pecos? By searching on GE, I found what looks like a couple of sets of rapids not far from town:
Must be it . . .
Last stop: Imperial. From Texas Escapes:
A post office and school opened here in 1910 and the town is said to be named after the Imperial Valley of California. Prior to the post office the community went by the name of Redlands. One Ben E. Bush laid out a townsite in 1911 and a small dam impounded water diverted from the Pecos River.
With an irrigation canal in place, an attempt was made to encourage settlement but the water had a high salt content which effectively killed that idea. The population was a mere 25 people in the mid-1920s which increased tenfold by 1949, thanks to the oil boom. By the late 1960s the population had mushroomed to nearly 1,000 residents, but has since declined to 428 – the number given for the 2000 census
The Texas Escapes Imperial post has this picture of something called “Horsehead Crossing,” about 12 mi SE of Imperial:
This, from the Texas State Historical Association:
Horsehead Crossing is a ford of the Pecos River, southeast of Imperial. In the 19th century (and before), Horsehead Crossing was one of the few fordable points on the Pecos River. Steep, muddy banks, unpredictable currents, and quicksand were natural barriers to travel for long distances up and down stream of the Crossing.
After long treks across the surrounding desert, thirsty animals were often poisoned by the briny river water or became hopelessly mired in the quicksand at the crossing. It was littered with horse, cattle, and mule skeletons. Horsehead Crossing was named for the horse skulls said to have been placed atop mesquite trees near the ford.
Beginning in the 1860s cattlemen frequently drove their herds across Horsehead Crossing. Charles L. Pyron drove a herd of 10,000 cattle across in 1866. Also in 1866 Charles Goodnight drove cattle up the Pecos River past Horsehead Crossing on the Goodnight-Loving Trail. After losing hundreds of cattle in the desert and the river, Goodnight described the Pecos as the “graveyard of the cowman’s hopes.”
I’ll close with a couple of GE Panoramio shots of the Pecos (down near Horsehead Crossing). First this of a old bridge by Tim Kreitz:
And this, by PBFT:
That’ll do it . . .
KS
Greg
© 2015 A Landing A Day
A Landing a Day 