Essays

Moseying: History of the Southern Llano Estacado  

Camels in West Texas -- Fort Stockton Sesquicentennial
October 21, 2009

"This happened here, in your home! It is something to be proud of, to celebrate. Everyone in West Texas should know the stories of the camel expeditions." Doug Baum ended his superb hour-long satellite broadcast to region schools with an impassioned flourish. Baum had woven science concepts with historical stories, never breaking stride, never fumbling for words, demonstrating a lively animated presence. Students had asked questions during his last ten minutes, and somehow he made the remote audience feel that he was in the schoolroom with his camels. Baum and a dozen other folks (dressed in historically accurate clothing) were reenacting Lt. Echol's 1859 camel expedition by leading several camels from Fort Lancaster to Fort Stockton. As Baum finished, Jim Collette, of Region 18 Education Service Center and organizer of the broadcast, turned to the technicians running the equipment and other folks behind the camera and mouthed, "Wow!"  Jim Watts (the owner of the ranch where the filming occurred) and I applauded.

Watts's grandfather settled the ranch in the 188's, about 30 years after the camels passed by. We talked about the changes in the landscape. Now the pastures were full of mesquite, catclaw, juniper, and hackberry. "In the 1930s lots of folks turned to sheep to make it through the depression, and since then the brush has been a plague, getting thicker and taller," Watts told me. Gilberto Tafolla Hernandez, whose ancestor had been a scout with the camel expedition commented, "Echol's dairy mentions that Escondido Spring was just pools of water in an open grassland." Hernandez had joined Baum on a 2006 trek from the site of Indianolla to Camp Verde, where the camels were based in the late 1850's. A retired serviceman, Hernandez now often presents programs on the role of Hispanic scouts in early day Texas.

Quite a few folks in Fort Stockton and the nearby region are proud of their history, and love to share their knowledge. Reenactment folks from all over came to Fort Stockton for the festivities. Three high school students walked the distance from Ft. Lancaster to Ft. Stockton. One was the son of Cheryl Dowell, the education director at Ft. Lancaster. "Walking ten miles or more a day, plus gathering firewood, and tending the animals is a tiring job, but it has been a lot of fun, " he told the students via the satellite broadcast. Hernandez was impressed with the young men. "They are going to remember this the rest of their lives. It is too bad that more kids can't do something like this -- it is one of the most powerful educational experiences possible." In answer, Baum commented, "You never know where your life will go -- I read a book on camels about 18 years ago, and I found my life's calling. Now I take treks in Egypt -- I never would have dreamed about doing such a thing when I was younger."

At the Sesquicentennial in Fort Stockton, I manned a table demonstrating Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo ethnobotany featuring specimens of a dozen plants. For 8 hours non-stop folks came by. I greeted them with, "Which of these plants do you recognize -- they all grow within 30 miles of here." Most Anglos responded, "Weeds!" The older Hispanics named off half of them (and I learned new regional Spanish names for some of the species (guame for gobernadora or creosote bush, for example), and I learned several new uses. Several dozen folks told me they used popotillo anytime their urinary tract was not running tip top. I knew that it calmed a colicky baby.

"I put guame in little bags in my pillows. It helps me sleep better at night. It is not just the pleasant smell, but something more -- I can't explain!" one lady told me. Several dozen folks said that they placed guame leaves in shoes to prevent foot odor. An older gentleman pointed at the agarita and said "agrito de la sierra" and then pointed at the littleleaf sumac and said "agrito de los llanos" and gestured as if he removed a canteen from his belt and taking a big swig. Many of my visitors had eaten or chewed on mesquite beans, but only a few of the oldest had eaten bread made with its flour. One gentleman pointed at the broomweed and told me he made a tea from it that he drank every morning. "It prevents cancer," he said. A lady standing nearby pointed at the guame -- "Dr. Sibley's mother cured her cancer drinking tea from that. I knew her well. She lived for another five years after learning of her diagnosis."