Geological Survey Bulletin 845 Guidebook of the Western United States: Part F. Southern Pacific Lines

SHEET No. 12 (click in image for an enlargement in a new window)

Mud Creek, crossed between Standart and Amanda sidings, is mentioned in many narratives of travel on the old trail from San Antonio west, which was near the present railroad line in this vicinity. A mile west of Amanda, on the descent to Sycamore Creek, there is a 10-foot cut in gravel and sand, which reveals the character of the deposit that covers the wide plains extending to Spofford and far to the north and south. The underlying Eagle Ford beds are exposed in a small cut 1-1/2 miles west of Amanda. As indicated by the extensive bridge by which it is spanned, Sycamore Creek is a mighty stream in time of freshet. (Turn to sheet 12.) The cap of sand, gravel, and caliche begins again west of this creek and covers the plateau to a point within 3 miles of Del Rio. It lies on Buda limestone, which is exposed in several shallow valleys. On its western edge, a few miles east of Del Rio, is a large "tank farm" of the Mid-Kansas Oil Co., with a capacity of 80,000 barrels supplied from oil fields far to the north by pipe line. Just beyond this place there is a steep down grade on buff clays of the Del Rio formation capped by the Buda limestone. These strata constitute bluffs 50 to 100 feet high extending far to the north and south from the railroad grade and forming the east slope of the Rio Grande Valley; it is from the exposures in these bluffs that the Del Rio clay was named. In the bottom lands not far west of the Buda-Del Rio bluff is San Felipe Creek, which has cut a shallow trench in the underlying massive limestone (uppermost Georgetown). This limestone is overlain widely by gravel, sand, and caliche of the alluvial plain on which Del Rio is built, which extends to the Rio Grande 2 to 3 miles distant.

Del Rio is on the frontier, for there are no other large towns to the west until El Paso is reached. It is a commercial center for a wide district of stock, sheep, and goat raising, wool, mohair, and agricultural interests, and a port of entry from Mexico by way of Villa Acuña (vee'ya a-coon'ya) on the Coahuila side of the Rio Grande, with which it is connected by a long bridge. On the alluvial plain about Del Rio there is considerable agriculture sustained by irrigation, for the climate is too arid for dry farming. Some of the water is obtained from San Felipe Spring, in the eastern part of the city, which has a flow of 50,000 gallons a minute (Meinzer). It issues from the top of the Georgetown limestone, probably rising through crevices from sandy beds at the base of the limestone or from sandstone of the underlying Trinity group. The original settlement here, owing its location to the great spring, was called San Felipe. Here an old Mexican trail joined the trail connecting El Paso with San Antonio and New Orleans. Turning eastward it crossed Mud Creek, 16 miles east of Del Rio, and went on through Fort Clark, Uvalde, Castroville, and San Antonio. To the west it reached the valley of the Devils River at Fort Hudson, considerably above its mouth, thus avoiding the deep canyons of the Devils River and Pecos River northwest of Del Rio. (See p. 80.)

Not far west of Del Rio the Coastal Plain gives place to the Plateau province as the hard limestones of the Comanche series rise to the surface. For the first few miles the railroad crosses the alluvial river flat, reaching the bank of the Rio Grande at McKees siding. Here the valley develops into a shallow canyon which deepens toward the west as the massive Georgetown limestone gradually rises and presents cliffs along the river bank. The railroad follows the river to a point about 15 miles above Del Rio, where Castle Canyon, the mouth of the Devils River Canyon, affords a natural gateway to the mouth of California Creek, which breaks the west wall of the Devils River Canyon near milepost 395. The canyon scenery in this vicinity is striking, the high walls of massive Georgetown limestone⁵⁹ presenting a variety of picturesque erosional forms, some of which are shown in Plate 11, C. The fluted columns and recesses in the limestone are especially impressive, and there are many caves which afforded shelter and hiding places for the Indians who formerly inhabited the region and left hieroglyphs on the cliffs and cavern walls. These caves are now the resort of bats; in some of the smaller ones bees store large supplies of honey. Washita fossils have been collected nearly to the bottom of the canyon of Devils River, where the top of the Edwards limestone is exposed. A conspicuous feature at Devils River station is the power plant that generates power for Del Rio and many other places. The workers of the power plant are housed in a very attractive cottage village on top of the cliff.

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⁵⁹According to Dumble there is at the base of the Devils River section a sandy water-bearing limestone which is tapped by wells on surrounding plateaus. The overlying massive limestones making the great cliffs carry Pecten texanus Roemer (at base), Pervinquieria leonensis Conrad (70 feet higher), Kingeana wacoensis Roemer, and at the top a bed with many large Caprinula? crassifibra Roemer, overlain by marly beds with other Washita fossils and a more massive bed which extends to the base of the Del Rio clay farther east.

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PLATE 11. A (top), ANACACHO LIMESTONE AT KING'S WATER HOLE, 3 MILES NORTH OF HONDO, TEX. Capped by 10 feet of gravel. (Stephenson.) B (center), DEL RIO CLAY CAPPED BY BUDA LIMESTONE (b) IN RAILROAD CUT HALF A MILE WEST OF COMSTOCK, TEX. Looking north. C (bottom), RECESSES AND BUTTRESSES IN GEORGETOWN IN LIMESTONE, CASTLE CANYON, DEVILS RIVER WEST OF DEL RIO, TEX.

The Devils River is a remarkably clear and constant stream which flows for many miles in a deep limestone canyon. It has its origin in great springs not far north of the railroad; the clear sparkling water flows down the Rio Grande in a stream which for many miles keeps separate from the muddy water of the main river.

In the valley of the Devils River about 8 miles above its mouth was old Fort Hudson, an important military post in the early days, on the trail from San Antonio and San Felipe. North from Fort Hudson one trail followed the valley of the Devils River to Beaver Lake, thence crossed the ridge to Howard's Well, on Howard Creek, and went over the divide to Camp Lancaster, on the Pecos River, beyond which it joined the Emigrant or Butterfield stage route from San Angelo to Fort Stockton. A trail westward from Fort Hudson followed more nearly the present line of the railroad through Camp Bullis, Meyer's Spring, and Langtry to Peña Colorada, near Marathon.

On leaving Devils River the railroad ascends the valley of California Creek on a moderately steep grade and thence, turning westward, climbs nearly 700 feet in a distance of about 25 miles, to a divide at Rona siding.⁶⁰

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⁶⁰In this ascent the top of the Georgetown limestone is reached near Feely siding, and the slopes on each side of the valley afford many outcrops of the overlying Del Rio clay, about 75 feet thick, capped by Buda limestone, which makes a cliff. Just southwest of Feely siding is a fine exposure of the abrupt contact of slabby tan-colored Eagle Ford limestone on massive light-colored Buda limestone. The plane of contact represents an unconformity with a considerable hiatus in time, but there is no noticeable difference in the attitude of the beds, there having been uplift without flexing. Beyond Cabra siding a small doming of the strata brings the Del Rio clay and Buda limestone prominently into view, and these beds are also exposed in many cuts to and beyond Comstock (nearly to milepost 416). The exposures near this town present another low dome which has the massive limestone at the top of the Georgetown bared in its center.

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In this region there is considerable change in vegetation, and the country looks more "western." The climate is more arid than in the region east of Uvalde; trees cease on the upland, and the bushes are smaller and more widely spaced. The principal plants that continue are mesquite, huisache, and yucca. Sage, palofierro, Spanish bayonet, lechuguilla, covillea, beargrass (Nolina), sotol, ocotillo, and maguey begin to be noticeable.⁶¹ There are also many annuals, most of which flower conspicuously when there is rain. Large numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle are raised.

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⁶¹This flora is described by W. L. Bray (Vegetation of the Sotol country in Texas; Texas Univ, Bull. 60, 1905).

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There is a striking exposure on the north side of the track just beyond Comstock in which Del Rio yellow clays are capped by Buda limestone, as shown in Plate 11, B. The Del Rio clay at all places contains thin layers of hard, dark limestone carrying an abundance of Exogyra arietina, the characteristic fossil.

A short distance beyond milepost 416 (3 miles beyond Comstock) the outcrop of Eagle Ford limestone begins, and this formation caps the rolling country about Rona and Viaduct. From the highlands in this vicinity there are excellent views of the Burro Mountains, in Mexico (State of Coahuila), 15 miles or more to the south. The Eagle Ford beds in this region are impure slabby limestones of pale-reddish tint, highly characteristic in aspect. They are beautifully layered and in places show crumples and faults. From Viaduct siding the railroad descends across the Eagle Ford beds and Buda limestone and reaches the platform of massive Georgetown limestone, in which the canyon of the Pecos River is cut. Underlying the Georgetown is the Edwards limestone. (See pl. 12, A.) The railroad crosses this impressive canyon on a bridge 2,184 feet long (middle span 185 feet), built in 1890, noted for its height (321 feet) and the view that it affords. The railroad when first constructed, went west from a point near Comstock and, deflecting to the left, passed into the canyon of the Rio Grande to cross the Pecos River at its mouth; thence it climbed from a side canyon of the Rio Grande to the present site of Shumla. It was on this part of the line that construction from the east and from the west made their junction on January 12, 1883, at a point 2-1/2 miles west of the Pecos Bridge, or 8 miles east of Shumla.

PLATE 12. A (top), RAILROAD BRIDGE OVER CANYON OF PECOS RIVER, 12 MILES EAST OF COMSTOCK, TEX. The walls are Georgetown limestone lying nearly horizontal. B (bottom), BRAHMA CATTLE. Bred and crossbred extensively in southern Texas because of their ability to withstand scarcity of water and pasture.

The Pecos River rises in the high ridges of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, a part of the Rocky Mountain system, in north-central New Mexico, and empties into the Rio Grande about 4 miles below the railroad bridge, a short distance below the Pecos Bridge on Highway 3. Its length is about 600 miles. The portion of the State lying west of the stream is called trans-Pecos Texas. Apparently the first white man to visit this section was Cabeza de Vaca, in his wanderings across Texas in 1528 to 1536. In 1541 the Pecos was crossed far above this point by Coronado on his expedition in search of the city of Quivira. He noted in the region many buffalo but only a few roving Indians. Later the Pecos was crossed by Espejo on his return trip into part of the region discovered by Coronado, and he called it Rio Vaca (Cow River). In 1590 Castaño de Sosa christened it the Rio Salado because he found it salty in places. West Texas was the home of the Apache Indians and later of their bitter enemies, the Comanches, who came down from Wyoming about 1700. The Indians obtained food and clothing from the buffalo, great herds of which roamed the plains, blocking caravans and even railroad trains. With the coming of the white man, buffalo killing became an organized business. A man was paid 25 cents for skinning an animal, and could handle 25 to 40 hides a day. In 1877-78 more than 100,000 animals are said to have been slaughtered for hide or for meat. Buffalo hides, which at first brought several dollars each, finally became so cheap as to be hardly worth taking. Many bulls were killed only for their tongues, which were a great delicacy. The ruthless slaughter finally resulted in the extinction of the herds, which formerly were so vast that they stopped immigrant trains. Then the gathering of the bleached bones that covered the prairies became an industry. From $6 to $12 a ton was paid for them, and more than 500,000 tons were handled by the two railroads. Great piles of bones stacked awaiting shipment became a frequent sight.

West of the Pecos Canyon is a rocky plateau of Georgetown limestone which in places to the west is capped by Buda and Eagle Ford limestones. The relations of these three formations are well shown in the railroad cut a mile east of Shumla siding. The Del Rio clay is generally absent in this vicinity and for 40 miles west; the last exposure (in which it is only 3 to 6 feet thick) is near the highway south of the Pecos bridge. The Buda limestone, 15 to 20 feet thick, a white massive rock breaking into irregular fragments, is exposed at many places. Near Dorso siding the overlying Eagle Ford limestones appear again, and there are several cuts in which they are well displayed. Their slabby bedding and pale-reddish tint are very characteristic. West of Dorso they occupy a shallow basin in which a thickness of about 200 feet remains, the higher beds making prominent buttes and ridges. In approaching Langtry a downgrade brings the railroad onto Buda limestone, which walls several small canyons, and finally the massive underlying Georgetown limestone is revealed in several small but steep-walled canyons crossed by the railroad. This formation makes 50-foot bluffs on the banks of the Rio Grande at Langtry and extending up and down the valley for some distance. The Eagle Ford beds are well exposed in the higher lands adjoining the railroad in this vicinity, and they also constitute high hills in Mexico. At many places in this general area the Buda limestone is exposed in railroad and stream cuts, lying directly on the smooth surface of the massive upper member of the Georgetown limestone. Its chalky-white appearance is characteristic.

Langtry is a small trading and shipping station built on a rocky shelf of Georgetown limestone on the north bank of the Rio Grande. In the slopes above and along the railroad are excellent exposures of Buda limestone capped by Eagle Ford beds. A short distance west are large springs from which the water is pumped for railroad use.

Langtry is famous in Texas history as the headquarters of the famous "Judge" Roy Bean during the days when no legitimate law courts existed in the region. A Kentuckian and a member of the Doniphan expedition of 1846 into Mexico, "Judge" Bean dispensed liquor and supplies and acted as the embodiment of "the law west of the Pecos" for many years in a shack which was falling to ruins in 1932. He changed the name from Vinegarone to Langtry in honor of the English actress Lily Langtry and had high expectations that she would visit the place. Some years later, on her way east, she stopped over a few hours to inspect her namesake, but meanwhile the autocratic old judge had died. The town saw considerable activity a few years ago when it was headquarters for the rebuilding of the railroad for several miles west and east to eliminate some curves and heavy grades. These changes shortened the line considerably, and the next milepost beyond 451 is 456 (from Harrisburg, Tex., an official terminus of one of the Texas railroad corporations now included in the Southern Pacific system). The resulting cuts, especially those west of Langtry, some of which are 40 feet deep, give very fine exposures of the Eagle Ford buff slabby limestone at frequent intervals nearly to Pumpville. Near that place the route traverses higher beds of chalky limestone (basal Austin) constituting a rolling plain of considerable extent. (Turn to sheet 13.)

FIGURE 8—Section at Langtry, Tex. Kef, Eagle Ford limestone; Kb, Buda limestone; Kg, Georgetown limestone (all Cretaceous)