More Sights in Texas

We went on another day trip from Alpine Texas.  This time we saw Terlingua, Big Bend Ranch State Park, Fort Leaton Historic Site and Marfa.  It was another fairly long day but one we wanted to make while we were in the area.

It was about 100 miles to Terligua which is a touristy ghost town.  There is a lot of legend and history in the area centered around the mining of cinnabar which is the common ore of mercury.  Mercury was used in explosives and was mined in this area in the 1880s.

First we stopped at the old Terlingua cemetery.  It is still an 'active' one but has lots of old and interesting grave sites.

From there, we drove on to Lajitas which is a small tourist and resort community.  It has a golf course and airport nearby.  Some movies have been made here.

General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing established Lajitas as a U.S. Calvary outpost here in 1916 to protect the settlers from bandits and Indians.

We continued on and drove along the Rio Grande.  The views were spectacular.

We stopped for lunch at an overlook near the river.

Below we could see an outfitter leading a group of canoers down the river.

Next, we stopped at Fort Leaton which is located between Redmond and Presido.  It was one of the earliest trading posts on the Chihuahua Trail.  It stretches from Chihuahua, Mexico to Santa Fe.

We saw an early version of an ox cart used to carry supplies to the frontier post.

This state historic was impressive and definitely worth the stop.  It was in excellent shape and had been restored in a realistic way.   Sometimes I think historical sites get 'restored' to a better condition than the residents ever experienced while they lived in them.  I think life was hard back then and people didn't have the resources to make their homes much more than basically adequate.  Now they are show cases and while quite interesting, I wonder how close it is now to how it was then.

Our last stop for the day was in Marfa which is another historical town about 24 miles from Alpine, Texas.  

Driving into town, we saw the majestic Presido County Courthouse.  Then we saw the 'Ride of a Lifetime' parked along the street.  Then on the outskirts of Marfa, we saw the viewing area for the famous 'Marfa Lights' which are an unexplained phenomenon.  

We returned to our campsite at Alpine after another great day trip.  Though it was a long distance between the items of interest, it is a beautiful and interesting part of the country.  We are glad we got to see the Big Bend Ranch State Park and surrounding areas.

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