Shroyer prepared a Master Thesis on Park Administration for Texas Tech University in May of 1973. Capote Falls, the highest waterfall in Texas, is located on the western slope of the Sierra Vieja Mountains north of Presidio, Texas. Because of its physical characteristics, remoteness, and beauty provided by riparian vegetation along Capote Creek, the falls is unique as a natural scenic area in the State of Texas.
Capote Falls
In June of 1966, Dr. Barton H. Warnock reported Capote Falls to the Texas Natural Area Survey Committee to be included in The Natural Areas of Texas (Preliminary Listing) (25:265). In October of the same year, the Federal Bureau of Outdoor Recreation organized an official study team to investigate Capote Falls and its environs to evaluate the area as a possible natural area of national significance.
While the reports returned to the Denver Office of the Bureau as a result of this investigation indicated that the area was not of national significance, almost all of the reports indicated the area has significance as a state natural area. Also, these reports indicated that the rapid erosion of the watershed area was threatening the water source and the falls (28).
The purpose of this study has been to inventory and evaluate the characteristics of Capote Falls in Presidio County and to recommend methods for preserving this natural scenic area for present and future generations of Texas.
The Trans-Pecos Region of Texas has been referred to as the state's vanishing frontier. The Trans-Pecos is an area of West Texas bounded on the north by the Texas-New Mexico line, on the west and south by the Rio Grande River, and on the east by the Pecos River (see Figure 1). To many people, West Texas means high plateaus and plains yet this concept is inaccurate as the Trans-Pecos area actually encompasses approximately ninety mountains and some of the most rugged terrain to be found in North America.
The highest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, is located in this area. While the mountains of Texas are smaller than several of the mountain ranges throughout the United States, they stand tall and predominantly rugged in appearance in contrast to the flats and deserts of the Trans-Pecos which surround them (11:1).
Presidio County in the lower portion of the Trans-Pecos Region, is the fourth largest county in Texas (3,877 square miles) with a 1970 population of 5,746. Recognized for its harsh landscapes, this county has elevations ranging from 2,400 feet in the desert to its highest point, Chinati Peak, with an elevation of 7,730 feet.
While Presidio County is rich in minerals such as oil and gas, the predominant industry of the region is cattle ranching [in 1973].
On page 18 ...."In 1882, John W. Spencer on his way from his farm to Fort Davis stopped to rest and noticed an unusual rock-ledge which looked like silver ore. Spencer took samples of the ore to General Shafter in Fort Davis where an assay of the ore revealed the silver content to be high. General Shafter traveled to California where he successfully borrowed the capital to organize a company and to purchase equipment necessary to develop a silver mine. The Presidio Mining Company was established with the mine being located not far from Don Milton Favor's Cibolo Ranch Headquarters in the Chinati Mountains.
The mining equipment was hauled to Paisano Pass on the Pacific Railroad and from there by freight wagon to the mine (15:169-170). From 1883 to 1942
the mine, now known as the Shafter Mine, produced more than 31,000,000 ounces of silver worth more than $18,000,000.
The mine was closed in 1942 due to labor difficulties, water in the lower levels, lowering grades of ore, and depletion of ore reserves. The mine was reopened for a brief period after World War II but was closed again in 19 47. R. I. Carr operated a small mine several miles west of Shafter from
1946 to 1950 which produced lead and silver ore in small quantities (1:80).
Coal was discovered at the now abandoned town of San Carlos, some twenty-five miles north of present Candelaria. On February 15, 189 3, a charter for the San Carlos Coal Company, with a capital stock of $300,000 was filed with the State of Texas. The coal company purchased 1,280 acres of land from the State of Texas and leased 53,120 acres of land from private owners for its venture.
The Rio Grande Northern Railway, chartered to furnish transportation for the coal produced, agreed to construct a railway to the mine for cost plus ten percent. The contract covered construction work, materials for the main line, all sidings, the telegraph line, water wells, water tanks and pumps, and engineering expenses. The railroad was completed in 1895 for a total expense of $403,154 covering twenty-seven miles of track including one-hundred yards of tunnel. The railroad was completed before the mine began operating and when the first coal mined proved to be of such low quality (lignite perhaps?), the railroad refused to haul it.
The coal company then leased the engine and cars and obtained permission to use the tracks. This agreement lasted six months. The railroad company terminated the agreement and without transportation, the coal company was forced to close down (1:24-25).
A nitrate mining company was chartered in 1918 and, like the coal mining company, proved to be an unsuccessful venture. Nitrogen compounds used in items such as fertilizers, coke, and explosives were of primary importance especially prior to and during World War I for the manufacture of explosives. Prior to the production of synthetic nitrogen, numerous attempts were made to locate natural deposits.
A nitrate discovery was made in Capote Canyon in the early 1900's. The charter for the Capote Nitrate Company with a capital stock of $100,000 was filed on November 4, 1918. Alfred Dueler, G. C. Simpson, and J. B. Herff chartered the company, spending most of their initial investment for equipment. Nitrate ore of profitable quantities was never found and the company forfeited its charter in 1950 leaving some $15,000 to $20,000 of debts (3:50-54).
Uranium was discovered in Presidio County by J. M. Daugherty and Cecil Geaslin of Van Horn, Texas. A prospecting permit was obtained in July of 1954 and in November of 1955, the Mammoth Uranium Corporation was incorporated with two-thousand shares of stock at one hundred dollars per share, as authorized under state law. The Mammoth Mine was located some six miles due west of the old San Carlos coal mining development. A five year lease was obtained on a 587.8 acre tract of State owned land in April 1955.
This ore has been assayed and found to be of low quality. Presently, the Mammoth Uranium Corporation is attempting to determine the amount of ore available, and the future of the corporation is indefinite. Additional uranium has been discovered in the area, but the prospects have remained
unworked (1:59-77).
Along with the occupations of ranching and mining, there was still another occupation in the area.
Throughout the history of the Trans-Pecos Region, crime was almost a way of life. The most troublesome period of crime for the residents along the Rio Grande was during Pancho Villa's reign when every bandit in Mexico raided under Villa's name. Villa and his troops attacked Juarez in November, 1913, and
from there proceeded to Chihuahua City. By the time Villa reached Chihuahua City, Huerta and his federal troops had retreated with thousands of civilians to Ojinaga across from Presidio, Texas.
On December 8, 1913, the federal troops defended Ojinaga against revolutionary troops. Their defense system was one of rifle pits and entrenchments established in different lines and angles around the city so that if one pit or entrenchment was taken, the defenders could fall back to a new position and continue the battle. The battle lasted from mid-December until January, 1914, when the federal troops in the front lines heard that they were to be attacked by six thousand troops and rushed back to Ojinaga.
The troops in the rear lines thought that the retreating men were the enemy and fired on them, thus causing panic. Soon the whole federal defense was fleeing to the Rio Grande and the protection of the United States. Here the Mexican Army surrendered to the United States Army, an unusual occurrence as the two countries were not at war (15:53-58)."
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