History Almost Lost--Pinery Station at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Ruin of the Pinery Station stagecoach stop
at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

One of the historic jewels of our region is the legacy of the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage, the first transcontinental delivery of the mail by stage coach.  Just beyond the Pinery Station (the ruins less than a mile from Guadalupe Mountains National Park visitors center) was the meeting of the first westernbound Butterfield stagecoach and the first easternbound Butterfield stagecoach in 1858.  Travelers endured great hardships to make the trip from Missouri to San Francisco, and visiting the ruins gives some insight into the long journey.

The ruins are on the Pinery Trail an easy walking path, for just about everyone.  Pets are allowed on the trail, as long as they're on leash.

The white strip behind the Pinery ruin is the limestone
path left by the September floods, narrowly missing an
important historic site

This fall, the park experienced a unprecedented rains, and a great deal of flooding, which closed most of the park for a time.  And with that flood, the Pinery station dodged a bullet...the stream bed behind the ruin became a roaring river.  Now a gleaming white path as wide as a freeway, just steps from the Pinery, the limestone deposited by the flood.

The wide swath of limestone left by the September flood

Pinery Station - Guadalupe Mountains National Park

In 1858, this was a MOST welcome sight to stagecoach travelers on the Butterfield Overland Mail. The Pinery station, now in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, was a stop on the 2,800 mile route from Missouri to California.

From the park's website:
"When the conductor, his driver, and their sole passenger made their first call at the Pinery, there was little to see: a stout corral built of pine that had been cut and hauled from the mountains above, and the tents that housed the station keeper and his men. But two months later the station consisted of a high-walled rock enclosure protecting a wagon repair shop, a black smith shop, and the essential replacement teams of fresh horses. Three mud-roofed rooms with limestone walls offered a double fireplace, a warm meal, and a welcome retreat from the dusty trail of the plains below."

Visitors to the park have an easy 0.75 mile walk to the ruins of the Pinery Station on a paved trail.  Trailside exhibits point out examples of Chihuahuan Desert vegetation.

From the park's website:

"The ruin is fragile; climbing on the walls can destroy this piece of history. It is preserved by the National Park Service as a window to the past, in the relatively unchanged, rugged setting that stage riders and Mescalero Apaches saw more than one hundred years ago. With the help of careful visitors to protect it, this historic location will continue to reflect the spirit of courage and adventure which commanded the senses of long-ago travelers, and still stirs in those who ride this route today."

Read more here, including stories of bustling activity and fearful moments at the Pinery!

Easy Peak Fitness Challenge Hike Takes You on a Historic Stagecoach Route!

View of Guadalupe Mountains National Park through a stagecoach window, heading south to the Pinery Station

Ruins of the Pinery Station for the Butterfield Overland Stage, in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Our Peak Fitness Challenge is open to anyone who is eager to stroll, hike or run in our Texas Mountains, specifically Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Franklin Mountains State Park.   We've selected trails for all activity level, including very easy ones for beginning hikers or for those who like to take their time for an easy stroll.  An example is the Pinery Trail, to the site of a historic stagecoach stop, in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

See the elevation chart for the Pinery Trail, notes of difficulty (easy!) and trail surface on the Peak Fitness Challenge website, here.  Read about the Pinery Station and the Butterfield Overland Stage on the park's website, here and here!

Joining the Challenge is free and easy, and once you log hiking miles on the website, you'll be eligible for prizes too!   Start your sign up here, and join in all fun!

Walk the original road!

There's an original stretch of the historic San Antonio-El Paso Road at Fort Davis National Historic Site.  You can walk it, along the same path mail coaches, emigrants, freighters and soldiers traveled in the late 1800s.  Read more about it here!

Fort Davis before a Storm

We've been blessed lately with some much-needed rains, and the skies can get pretty exciting (and beautiful) right before a storm.  Right now, the desert lands are greening up nicely and that makes traveling in the region a delight.  Pictured here are the officers quarters at Fort Davis National Historic Site, right before a downpour!

One of the best preserved frontier forts in the West, from 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and on the Chihuahua Trail.  Now part of the National Parks Service, the Fort continues to restore its buildings and add exhibits, most recently a wonderful exhibit on medical care in the fort's hospital buildings!

Texas Mountain Trail Heritage Hikes--Easy Pinery Station Trail

Stone ruins of Pinery Station

A place to rest along the trail and catch some shade

The Peak Fitness Challenge we launched yesterday incorporates hikes with historical significance ...and there's a variety of hikes for beginning to experienced hikers and trail runners!   We've called them Texas Mountain Trail Heritage Hikes, and today's featured hike is the Pinery Trail in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

This hike takes you to the ruins of the stagecoach station, where in September 28, 1858, the first coach carrying mail and passengers made a meal stop on its inaugural journey across the U.S. The Pinery, named for nearby stands of pine, was one of the best stops for the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage along the line from Missouri to California, because of abundant water. The stop was used less than a year, as the route passing through Guadalupe Pass was abandoned for a more southerly route through Fort Davis.

This is an easy trail of less than a mile, with very little elevation gain.  The trail's pathway is easy for almost anyone to navigate.  

Join the Peak Fitness Challenge here, and "like" the facebook page for the Challenge to keep up on news, prize information and updates!

BONUS--1895 Cycling Story!

  Here's a little poem in the June 22, 1895 El Paso Herald ...a message from an Alpine cyclist!  

For more clips about the cycling craze in 1895, follow along on our Texas Mountain Trail facebook page or our Twitter account!  

We'll be rolling out the whole story in the weeks to come!   

Stagecoach Route Remnants

This little strip of road looks unremarkable, but it is historic with a capital H.  Located on the grounds of Fort Davis National Historic Site, this is a remnant of the old San Antonio-El Paso road, a stagecoach route.

The Fort's website says this:

" In October 1855, Second Lieutenant Zenas R. Bliss, Eighth U. S. Infantry, arrived at Fort Davis seventeen days after boarding the westbound stage in San Antonio. "The Post was the most beautifully situated of any that I have ever seen. It was in a narrow canyon with perpendicular sides, the walls of which were about 200 feet in height," the young officer later wrote. The necessity for the post, located some 400 miles from San Antonio and 200 miles from Franklin (present-day El Paso), stemmed from demands for protection on the San Antonio-El Paso Road. A major link along the most southern route to California, the road experienced an upsurge of travel in the early 1850s following the discovery of gold in California. As travel along the road increased, so did Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache raids into Mexico. Emigrants, mail carriers and merchants journeyed in constant fear of the raiding warriors who traveled between Mexico and their homelands to the north. Despite its picturesque terrain, the buildings were uncomfortable and difficult to keep warm. "I remember once in a snow storm the snow blew under my bed . . . and it stayed there several days without melting," wrote Lieutenant Bliss. In 1856, six stone barracks with thatched roofs and flagstone floors replaced inadequate enlisted men’s quarters. Along with the bakery, blacksmith shop, and a warehouse, they were the only substantial structures of the first fort."

And this:

"The first Fort Davis served as a retreat for thousands of emigrants, freighters, and travelers during the decade preceding the Civil War. It provided protection for the U. S. Mail and saw the establishment of a number of stage stations and military posts in the region, including Fort Stockton and Fort Quitman. It was also an influencing factor in 1859 for the Butterfield Overland Mail to change its route to El Paso. The new route came through Fort Davis instead of following the road through the Guadalupe Mountains. Although the post did little to reduce Indian activity in western Texas, its presence encouraged travel on the San Antonio-El Paso Road and settlement in the Trans-Pecos region."

Straight off the Fort property to the east on "Fort Street" is the Overland Trail Museum, a community museum showing early life in Jeff Davis County.  Definitely worth a stop, visitors not only enjoy the museum's exhibits but the fact that it is along the still unpaved, original San Antonio-El Paso Road.

You can read more about the first Fort Davis (1854-1862) and its history here.http://www.nps.gov/foda/historyculture/firstfortdavis.htm

Franklin Mountains State Park's JackRabbit Classic and View of Historic Trade Routes

From the top of the trail, a view of El Paso's historic valley, a significant historic trade route

Runners head up the mountain in yesteday's JackRabbit Classic Trail Run

Visitors to Franklin Mountains State Park, and yesterday's runners in the JackRabbit Classic Trail Run there, can get a terrific view of the historic upper valley connecting El Paso to New Mexico.

From the park's website, some history:
"Overlooking the Rio Grande, the Franklin Mountains are the northern ramparts of the Paso del Norte (Pass of the North), leading from Mexico into what is now the United States. For thousands of years, native Americans, and for the last four centuries, soldiers, priests, traders, adventurers, gold-seekers, entrepreneurs, and just plain folk have passed through the gap in both directions in an endless procession of expansion, settlement, raiding, and conquest. Native American groups made the area home, using the plant and animal resources of the Franklins for more than 12,000 years. These people left their marks in the Franklins - colorful pictographs on boulders and in rock shelters and deep mortar pits (used to grind seeds) in rock outcrops near scattered water sources. Beginning in the 1580s, less than a century after Columbus, Spanish conquistadors and priests passed beneath the peaks of the Franklins on their mission to conquer and colonize the Puebloan villages in present-day New Mexico." 

Read more about the historic El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, here. 
The Butterfield Overland Mail Stagecoach Route also ran through the valley visible from the mountains.  Read more about the history of this route through El Paso, here.

Williams Ranch Road in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, on the historic Butterfield Overland Mail Stage Route

1908 Williams Ranch house, center of a cattle operation in what is now Guadalupe Mountains National Park

The road to the ranch is marked as the original route of the 1859 Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route

The western section of Guadalupe Mountains National Park isn't visited as frequently as the eastern section, but it does not lack in charm nor adventure potential.  Williams Ranch road is restricted (you need to get a key from the rangers at Pine Springs Visitor Center) and limited to two vehicles at a time.  A rolicking 4x4 road, it also provides a good mountain biking adventure.

Sections of the road are part of the original route of the first transcontinental mail delivery by stagecoach, the coaches rumbled over wild terrain carrying cargo, people and mail.  The historic meeting of the first eastern-bound and western-bound stages met near this spot in 1859.  Read more about the Butterfield route in the park.

At the end of the road, is the 1908 wooden frame ranch house, built as the center of a ranching operation.  You can sit on the porch and ponder life in that era.  Click here to read the history of Williams Ranch.

Once you get to the house, there are several options for hiking...up the boulders towards the mountains via Bone Canyon, or on a trail a little north, to Shumard Canyon and connecting to the El Capitan Trail.

Pinery Station, a Butterfield Stage Stop in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Here's a hike everyone can do...a short walk from the visitor center at Guadalupe Mountains National Park to the Pinery Station, a ruin of a stagecoach stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail line.  It was a stop for the stagecoach and its passengers for 11 months in 1858-9.

The Park's website describes the hike this way:
"Travel the short .75 mile path to the ruins of the old Pinery Station, once a favored stop on the original 2,800 mile Butterfield Overland Mail Route. Trailside exhibits describe Chihuahuan desert vegetation. The trail is paved, rated easy, and wheelchair accessible. Pets are allowed on leash."

 The Pinery Station has a great history...read all about it here.

Butterfield Overland Mail Stage route in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Here's a couple of locations for all you stagecoach fans:  Guadalupe Mountains National Park was the site of the first meeting of the easternbound and westernbound stages on the inaugural Butterfield Overland Mail Stagecoach in 1868, and visitors can trace the route through the park!  For eleven months from September 1858 to August 1859, stagecoaches rumbled through this land, delivering passangers and the U.S. mail on the route from Missouri to California, a 2800 mile route.  Two sites in the park are marked with the trail--the Williams Ranch Road in the western part of the park, and the Pinery Station (where the stage stopped briefly for food and relief) near the Pine Springs Visitor Center.  To learn more about Guadalupe Mountains National Park, click here.

Overland Trail Museum

In the shadow of Sleeping Lion Mountain in Fort Davis is the Overland Trail Museum, a great place to get a peek at early life in Jeff Davis County. The artifacts on display help tell the story of early residents in Fort Davis: ranchers, merchants, doctors, lawmen, etc. The Museum is on Fort Street, the historical route of the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach. Ask to see the ranching exhibits behind the main museum building, where this photo was taken.

Overland Trail Museum

Fort Davis' Overland Trail Museum is a great place to view artifacts of early life in Jeff Davis County, from saddles to clothing and handwork, historical documents and photos.

It is located on Fort Street, on the old San Antonio-El Paso road and the Butterfield Overland Mail Route.

Stagecoach Route

Down there, in the middle ground of this photo, is the original route of the Butterfield Overland Mail, a stagecoach making the first transcontinental mail delivery in 1858. The route runs through the current Guadalupe Mountains National Park (pictured here), Hueco Tanks State Historic Site, and the El Paso airport.

A year after the service was established, it was rerouted to the south and ran through Fort Davis and just south of Van Horn.

For more information on the Butterfield Overland Sesquicentennial, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/butterfield

An exhibit about the Butterfield Overland Mail can be seen through January at the El Paso Museum of History. For more information, click here.

View from inside the stagecoach

Riding the Butterfield Overland Mail stage at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the 150th anniversary of the first ride.

For more information on Butterfield Celebrations around Texas, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/butterfield

For more information about the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, visit: www.nps.gov/gumo

Stagecoach at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Today's festivities celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Butterfield Overland Mail, the first transcontinental mail delivery by stagecoach offered visitors rides near the historic Butterfield route.

The celebration continues tomorrow!

For information about celebrations across the state of Texas, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/butterfield

Officers Quarters

If you are attending any of the statewide Butterfield Overland Mail sesquicentennial festivities, don't miss Fort Davis.

This small mountain community has the longest unpaved stretch of the stagecoach route, used a year after the Butterfield company started their transcontinental mail delivery.

Pictured here are the officers quarters at the Fort Davis National Historic Site, built after the Butterfield stages came rambling through the region. Plan also to visit Fort Davis' Overland Trail museum for artifacts from this fascinating mountain community.

For information on Butterfield events statewide, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/butterfield

Butterfield Stage

The El Paso Museum of History is showing an exhibit of Butterfield Overland Mail artifacts to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the start of the stagecoach route across the country.

You can learn more about Butterfield festivities here: www.texasmountaintrail.com/butterfield

Highest Point in Texas

Just behind El Capitan (pictured here) in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park is Guadalupe Peak, which at 8,749 feet, is the highest point in Texas.

The park is also the location of the historic meeting of the first eastern- and western-bound stagecoaches on the Butterfield Overland Mail, which celebrates its sesquicentennial this month.

The park is hosting a celebration on September 27 and 28...read more about this event and others at: www.texasmountaintrail.com/butterfield

For hiking information, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike

Butterfield Overland Mail Celebrations

In the coming days, history enthusiasts will be celebrating the sesquicentennial of the first overland mail delivery by stagecoach, the Butterfield Overland Mail.

Pictured here is part of the southern route which wasn't used until 1859, through Fort Davis. Starting at the Fort Davis National Historic Site, and then along Fort Street in the community of Fort Davis, visitors can still walk the longest unpaved portion of the route, almost two miles.

Stop along the way to visit the Overland Trail Museum which celebrates local history!

And take a look at other celebrations planned across the state at: www.texasmountaintrail.com/butterfield