The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains,
is a region in the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
that encompasses parts of
eastern New Mexico
Eastern New Mexico is a physiographic subregion within the U.S. state of New Mexico. The region is sometimes called the "High Plains," or "Eastern Plains (of New Mexico)," and was historically referred to as part of the "Great American Desert". The ...
and northwestern
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. One of the largest
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...
s or tablelands on the
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n continent,
the elevation rises from in the southeast to over in the northwest, sloping almost uniformly at about .
Naming
The Spanish name is often interpreted as meaning "Staked Plains", although "
stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall.
Etymology
''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived ...
d" or "
palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymology
''Palisade' ...
d plains" have also been proposed, in which case the name would derive from the steep
escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...
s on the eastern, northern, and western periphery of the plains. Leatherwood writes that
Francisco Coronado
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco (name), Paco". Francis of Assisi, San Francisco de Asís was known as '' ...
and other European explorers described the
Mescalero Ridge
The Mescalero Ridge forms the western edge of the great Llano Estacado, a vast plateau or tableland in the southwestern United States in New Mexico and Texas. It is the western equivalent of the Caprock Escarpment, which defines the eastern edge of ...
on the western boundary as resembling "palisades, ramparts, or stockades" of a fort, but does not present the original Spanish.
In ''Beyond the Mississippi'' (1867),
Albert D. Richardson
Albert Deane Richardson (October 6, 1833 – December 2, 1869) was a well-known American journalist, Union spy, and author. Among his works is his noted biography of Ulysses S. Grant. Richardson was shot on two occasions, the second time fatally, ...
, who traversed the region from east to west in October 1859, wrote that "the ancient Mexicans marked a route with stakes over this vast desert, and hence its name."
Other sources refer to "stakes" used to mark routes on the featureless plain, often meaning piles of stone, bone, and
cow dung
Cow dung, also known as cow pats, cow pies or cow manure, is the waste product (faeces) of bovine animal species. These species include domestic cattle ("cows"), bison ("buffalo"), yak, and water buffalo. Cow dung is the undigested residue ...
.
Leatherwood opines in the ''
Handbook of Texas
The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).
History
The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...
'' that such way markers could plausibly explain the origin of the name, but that the "comparison of cliff formations and palisades made by explorers argues more convincingly for the geological origin". In his ''Roadside Geology of Texas'', Geologist Darwin Spearing also prefers the geological solution to the etymology:
Geography and climate
![Llano Escarpment](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Llano_Escarpment.jpg)
The Llano Estacado lies at the southern end of the
Western High Plains ecoregion of the
Great Plains
The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...
of North America; it is part of what was once called the
Great American Desert
The term Great American Desert was used in the 19th century to describe the part of North America east of the Rocky Mountains to about the 100th meridian. It can be traced to Stephen H. Long's 1820 scientific expedition which put the Great Am ...
. The
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .[Caprock Escarpment
The Caprock Escarpment is a term used in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico to describe the geographical transition point between the level High Plains of the Llano Estacado and the surrounding rolling terrain. In Texas, the escarpment stretch ...]
, a precipitous cliff about high, lies between the Llano and the red
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
plains of Texas; while to the west, the
Mescalero Escarpment
The Mescalero Ridge forms the western edge of the great Llano Estacado, a vast plateau or tableland in the southwestern United States in New Mexico and Texas. It is the western equivalent of the Caprock Escarpment, which defines the eastern edge of ...
demarcates the eastern edge of the
Pecos River
The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico ...
valley. The Llano has no natural southern boundary, instead blending into the
Edwards Plateau
The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region at the crossroads of Central Texas, Central, South Texas, South, and West Texas. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the ...
near
Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 27,282 as of the 2010 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, A ...
. This geographic area stretches about north to south, and east to west, a total area of some , larger than
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
and 12 other states. It covers all or part of 33
Texas counties
The U.S. state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U.S. state. Over 20% of Texas counties are generally located within the Houston-Dallas—San Antonio—Austin areas, serving about 20,000,000 people, the majority of the ...
and four New Mexico counties.
[ The area is susceptible to frequent ]dust storms
A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...
because of its low relief, frequent turbulent winds, lack of vegetation, and loose topsoil. The landscape is dotted by numerous small playa lake
Playa (plural playas) may refer to:
Landforms
* Endorheic basin, also known as a sink, alkali flat or sabkha, a desert basin with no outlet which periodically fills with water to form a temporary lake
* Dry lake, often called a ''playa'' in the so ...
s, depressions that seasonally fill with water and provide habitat for waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...
.
The Llano Estacado has a cold semiarid climate (Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BSk''), characterized by long, hot summers and cold winters. Rainfall is relatively low; the entire region receives fewer than of rainfall annually, and the western part receives as little as . High summer temperatures (average high July temperature above 90 °F or 32 °C) mean that most of the small amount of precipitation is lost to evaporation, making dryland farming
Dryland farming and dry farming encompass specific agricultural techniques for the non-irrigated cultivation of crops. Dryland farming is associated with drylands, areas characterized by a cool wet season (which charges the soil with virtually ...
difficult.[
The Texas State Historical Society states it covers all or part of 33 Texas counties, six fewer than as depicted by a US Geological Survey map, and four New Mexico counties.][
As depicted by a US Geological Survey map, the Llano Estacado includes all or part of these Texas counties:
It also includes all or part of the following New Mexico counties:
*]Curry
A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included.
There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradit ...
*Lea
Lea or LEA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lea River, Tasmania, Australia
* Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows
* RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA"
England
* Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish
* Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...
*Quay
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...
*Roosevelt
Roosevelt may refer to:
*Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president
*Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president
Businesses and organisations
* Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation)
* Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank
* Roosevel ...
Several interstate highways serve the Llano Estacado. Interstate 40
Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...
crosses the northern portion from east of Amarillo to Tucumcari, New Mexico. Interstate 27
Interstate 27 (I-27) is an Interstate Highway, entirely in the US state of Texas, running north from Lubbock to I-40 in Amarillo. These two cities are the only control cities on I-27; other cities and towns served by I-27 include (from south ...
runs north-south between Amarillo and Lubbock, while Interstate 20
Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with Interstate 10, I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with Interstate 95, I-95 in Flo ...
passes through the southern portion of the Llano Estacado west of Midland and Odessa.
History
Spanish conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
Francisco Coronado
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco (name), Paco". Francis of Assisi, San Francisco de Asís was known as '' ...
, the first European to traverse this "sea of grass" in 1541, described it as follows:
I reached some plains so vast, that I did not find their limit anywhere I went, although I traveled over them for more than 300 leagues ... with no more land marks than if we had been swallowed up by the sea ... there was not a stone, nor bit of rising ground, nor a tree, nor a shrub, nor anything to go by.
In the early 18th century, the Comanche
The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
s expanded their territory into the Llano Estacado, displacing the Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
s who had previously lived there. The region became part of the Comancheria
The Comancheria or Comanchería (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land') was a region of New Mexico, west Texas and nearby areas occupied by the Comanche before the 1860s. Historian Pekka Hämäläinen has argued that the Comancheria ...
, a Comanche stronghold until the final defeat of the tribe in the late 19th century. The Comanche war trail extended from Llano Estacado to the Rio Grande into Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
, "the trail ran southwesterly through Big Spring to the Horsehead Crossing
Horsehead Crossing is a ford on the Pecos River in Crane County, south of Odessa, Texas. Historically, it was a major landmark on the trail west as one of a few fordable sections of the Pecos in West Texas, and as the first reliable source of wate ...
of the Pecos River
The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico ...
, then forked southward to the Comanche Springs where it divided, one part of the trail crossing the great river near Boquillas and the other at Presidio
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...
."[Ford, J.S., 1963, ''Rip Ford's Texas''. Austin: University of Texas Press, ]
Rachel Plummer Rachel Parker Plummer (March 22, 1819 – March 19, 1839) was the daughter of James W. Parker and the cousin of Quanah Parker, last free-roaming chief of the Comanches. An Anglo-Texan woman, she was kidnapped at the age of seventeen, along with her ...
, while a captive of the Comanche
The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
in 1836, mentioned the "table lands between Austin and Santa Fe".
Robert Neighbors
Robert Simpson Neighbors (November 3, 1815 – September 14, 1859) was an Indian agent and Texas state legislator. Known as a fair and determined protector of Indian interests as guaranteed by treaty, he was murdered for his beliefs by a Texan w ...
and Rip Ford
John Salmon Ford (May 26, 1815 – November 3, 1897), better known as "Rip" Ford, was a member of the Republic of Texas Congress and later of the Texas Senate, State Senate, and mayor of Brownsville, Texas. He was also a Texas Ranger Division, Te ...
, guided by Buffalo Hump
Buffalo Hump (Comanche language, Comanche ''Potsʉnakwahipʉ'' "Buffalo Bull's Back") (born c. 1800 — died post 1861 / ante 1867) was a War Chief of the Penateka band of the Comanche Indians. He came to prominence after the Council House Figh ...
, blazed the "upper route" trail from San Antonio to El Paso in 1849 for emigrants during the California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
, "... travelling across an elevated plateau almost covered by rock ..."
After his 1852 expedition to explore the headwaters of the Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
and Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
Rivers, General Randolph Marcy
Randolph Barnes Marcy (April 9, 1812 – November 22, 1887) was an officer in the United States Army, chiefly noted for his frontier guidebook, the ''Prairie Traveler'' (1859), based on his own extensive experience of pioneering in the west. This p ...
wrote: " ota tree, shrub, or any other herbage to intercept the vision ... the almost total absence of water causes all animals to shun it: even the Indians do not venture to cross it except at two or three places."[ In his report for the ]United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
:
When we were upon the high table-land, a view presented itself as boundless as the ocean. Not a tree, shrub, or any other object, either animate or inanimate, relieved the dreary monotony of the prospect; it was a vast-illimitable expanse of desert prairie . ... the great Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
, map_image =
, location =
, country =
, country1 =
, ...
of North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. it is a region almost as vast and trackless as the ocean—a land where no man, either savage or civilized permanently abides ... a treeless, desolate waste of uninhabitable solitude, which always has been, and must continue uninhabited forever.
During the 1854 Marcy-Neighbors expedition, Dr. George Getz Shumard noted, "Beyond the mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
appeared a line of high bluffs (the Llano Estacado) which in the distance looked like clouds floating upon the horizon."[Neighbors, K.F., 1975, ''Robert Neighbors and the Texas Frontier, 1836-1859'', Waco: Texian Press]
Herman Lehmann
Herman Lehmann (June 5, 1859 – February 2, 1932) was captured as a child by Native Americans. He lived first among the Apache and then the Comanche but eventually returned to his family later in life. The phenomenon of a white child raised by I ...
was captured by the Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
in 1870 and described the Llano Estacado as "open, but not exactly a desert".
Robert G. Carter
Robert Goldthwaite Carter (October 29, 1845 – January 4, 1936) was a US Cavalry officer who participated in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars, most notably against the Comanche during which he received the Medal of Honor for his role ...
described it in 1871 while pursuing Quanah Parker
Quanah Parker (Comanche ''kwana'', "smell, odor") ( – February 23, 1911) was a war leader of the Kwahadi ("Antelope") band of the Comanche Nation. He was likely born into the Nokoni ("Wanderers") band of Tabby-nocca and grew up among the Kwah ...
with Ranald S. Mackenzie
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, also called Bad Hand, (July 27, 1840 – January 19, 1889) was a career United States Army officer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was described by General Ulysses S. Grant as its ...
, "... all were over and out of the canyon upon what appeared to be a vast, almost illimitable expanse of prairie. As far as the eye could reach, not a bush or tree, a twig or stone, not an object of any kind or a living thing, was in sight. It stretched out before us-one uninterrupted plain, only to be compared to the ocean in its vastness."
In August 1872, Mackenzie was the first to successfully lead troops across the Staked Plains preparatory to the Battle of the North Fork of the Red River
The Battle of North Fork or the Battle of the North Fork of the Red River occurred on September 28, 1872, near McClellan Creek in Gray County, Texas, United States. A monument on that spot marks the site of the battle between the Comanche India ...
.
Billy Dixon
William Dixon (September 25, 1850 – March 9, 1913) was an American Reconnaissance, scout and buffalo hunter, bison hunter active in the Texas Panhandle. He helped found Adobe Walls, Texas, Adobe Walls, fired a buffalo rifle shot at the Second ...
described the area while hunting buffalo in June 1874: "All of us hunters acquainted with the habits of the buffalo knew that the herds would soon be coming north from the Staked Plains region where they had spent the winter ... moved by that strange impulse that ... caused them to change their home and blacken the Plains with their countless, moving forms."
Zane Grey
Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...
, in his novel ''The Thundering Herd'' (1925), offered the following explanation for the name Llano Estacado: "Thet name Llano Estacado means Staked Plain," said the Texan. "It comes from the early days when the Spanish Trail from Santa Fe to San Antone was marked by 'palos,' or stakes. There was only two trails across in them days an' I reckon no more now. Only the Indians know this plain well an' they only run in heah to hide awhile. Water an' grass are plentiful in some parts, an' then there's stretches of seventy miles dry an' bare as a bone."
In the latter part of the 19th century, the Llano was a refuge for the bands of Kiowa
Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...
s and Comanches who did not wish to be confined to reservations in Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
, in present-day Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. One of their last battles against the US Army was fought on 28 September 1874 in the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon
The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon was a military confrontation and a significant United States victory during the Red River War. The battle occurred on September 28, 1874, when several U.S. Army regiments under Ranald S. Mackenzie attacked a large ...
.
Charles Goodnight
Charles Goodnight (March 5, 1836 – December 12, 1929), also known as Charlie Goodnight, was a rancher in the American West. In 1955, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Early ...
described what it takes to be a scout: "... the trained ear should be able to tell the sound, whether it was made by man or beast or bird ... as a human voice echoes more than all others ... of course, on the Staked Plains we have not this advantage as there is nothing to create an echo."
Today, most of the area's population is localized in the principal cities of Amarillo
Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County. It is the List of cities in Texas by population, 14th-most populous city in Texas and th ...
, Lubbock
Lubbock ( )
is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwe ...
, Midland and Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, Texas. The vast majority of the area is rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
, covered by large ranches and irrigated farms. Several small- to medium-sized towns do exist, however, including Andrews Andrews may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andrews, Queensland
*Andrews, South Australia
United States
*Andrews, Florida (disambiguation), various places
*Andrews, Indiana
* Andrews, Nebraska
*Andrews, North Carolina
* Andrews, Oregon
* Andrews, Sou ...
, Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
, Plainview, Levelland, and Lamesa, Texas, and Clovis
Clovis may refer to:
People
* Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis
** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler
** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...
, Portales, and Hobbs, New Mexico.
The Llano Estacado is slightly larger in area than the state of Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. The southern extension of the High Plains, the region is some 250 miles north to south and 200 miles east to west. The roads are straight and meet mostly at right angles. Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
is an essential crop with irrigation, but faces declining prices at times on the world market. The Llano Estacado is sometimes humorously described as "85 percent sky and 15 percent grassland."[Stephen D. Bogener, ]West Texas A&M University
West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on Se ...
, "High and Dry on the Llano Estacado: Religion, Morality, Alcohol on the High Plains", West Texas Historical Association
The West Texas Historical Association is an organization of both academics and laypersons dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of the total history of West Texas, loosely defined geographically as all Texas counties and portions of coun ...
annual meeting in Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
, Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, February 26, 2010
Notable lawmakers include George H. Mahon
George Herman Mahon (September 22, 1900 – November 19, 1985) was a Texas politician who served twenty-two consecutive terms (1935–1979) as a member of the United States House of Representatives from the Lubbock-based 19th congressional distri ...
, Kent Hance
Kent Ronald Hance (born November 14, 1942) is an American politician and lawyer who is the former Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. In his role, he oversaw Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Ange ...
, and Robert L. Duncan
Robert Lloyd Duncan (born August 5, 1953) is an American attorney and politician who served as the fourth chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, serving from 2014 to 2018. A Republican, he previously served as a member of both houses ...
. The area has a large number of churches per capita. Lubbock, known for a wide variety of denominations, also holds the distinction of being the most populous city on the High Plains from the Dakotas
The Dakotas is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geography, fauna, sociology, econom ...
through Texas. Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
did not end on the Texas Plains in 1933 with repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of ...
, but continued for years at the county level. Even in 2010, some forty Texas counties, most in the Llano Estacado, remain officially "dry" to the sale of alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...
s.[
File:Texas population map2.png, Map of ]Texas counties
The U.S. state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U.S. state. Over 20% of Texas counties are generally located within the Houston-Dallas—San Antonio—Austin areas, serving about 20,000,000 people, the majority of the ...
with population density
File:Downtown Lubbock from I-27 2005-09-10.jpeg, Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock ( )
is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...
, the largest city on the Llano
File:Amarillo_Texas_Downtown.jpg, A shot of downtown Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...
File:Midland44_Skyline.jpg, Midland, "The Tall City" of West Texas
File:Odessa_IMG_0319.JPG, Downtown Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
Geology
The Ogallala Formation
The Ogallala Formation is a Miocene to early Pliocene geologic formation in the central High Plains of the western United States and the location of the Ogallala Aquifer. In Nebraska and South Dakota it is also classified as the Ogallala Group. N ...
is a wedge of sediments built up eastward of the Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
as they were uplifted in the Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
, with the consequent alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...
s referred to as the "Gangplank".[ The ]Ogallala Aquifer
The Ogallala Aquifer () is a shallow water table aquifer surrounded by sand, silt, clay, and gravel located beneath the Great Plains in the United States. One of the world's largest aquifers, it underlies an area of approximately in portio ...
is the main freshwater source for the region and consists of braided stream deposits filling in valleys during humid climatic conditions, followed by a sub-humid to arid climate and thick eolian (wind-blown) sand and silt.[ ]Caliche
Caliche () is a sedimentary rock, a hardened natural cement of calcium carbonate that binds other materials—such as gravel, sand, clay, and silt. It occurs worldwide, in aridisol and mollisol soil orders—generally in arid or semiarid regions, ...
layers cap the Ogallala, which reflect today's arid conditions.[ ]Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
rainfall over the flat terrain caused water to pond at the surface, resulting in a High Plains characteristic, innumerable round ponds called playa lakes
A dry lake bed, also known as a playa, is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceeds recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkaline c ...
.[ Spearing goes on to say,
]When the weather is dry, they are dusty, round, gray, usually unvegetated flats, as observed from the highway. But after a High Plains thunderstorm, water quickly fills the ponds, only later soaking into the underlying porous sandstones
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) b ...
just below the surface to add to the groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
in the Ogallala aquifer. Early pioneers depended dearly on water from these surface ponds for themselves and their livestock, considering how few streams are on the High Plains. But rains didn't always come, and the ponds dried up frequently. The 20th century has witnessed a concerted effort to tap the more reliable Ogallala water sands. Predictably, the consequent high dependency on groundwater has removed more water than is naturally replaced, raising concern for Panhandle citizens and planners as to future water supplies.
The Pecos and Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
rivers have eroded the Llano Estacado region down to the Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
and Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
redbeds
Red beds (or redbeds) are sedimentary rocks, typically consisting of sandstone, siltstone, and shale, that are predominantly red in color due to the presence of ferric oxides. Frequently, these red-colored sedimentary strata locally contain th ...
resulting in a distinctive color contrast besides separating it from source rocks in the Rocky Mountains.
Economy
The economy of the Llano Estacado is predominantly agricultural, with farming of various crops prevalent, as is cattle ranching
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
. Oil and gas production is also prevalent on the Llano Estacado.
Overuse of the aquifer in the past has persuaded some farmers to return to dryland crops, leading to less rainwater reaching the playas.
"Cotton, grain sorghum, corn, wheat, peanuts, sunflowers, grapes, vegetables, and cattle produced in the region literally go around the world. Their economic impact on our area is in the billions of dollars ... and the availability of water is a key factor influencing the region's agribusiness economy."
One of the largest economic drivers on the Llano Estacado is in energy production, with the region experiencing significant activity for producing oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
and natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
associated with the Permian Basin
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
. Additionally, solar and wind farms
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
have proliferated on the Llano Estacado due to the region's dry and windy climate making it a favorable location for the production of renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
.
In popular culture
*The 2020 song "West Texas In My Eye" by The Panhandlers features the lyrics, "Where the Llano Estacado rises up to meet the sky/I ain't crying, that's West Texas in my eye."
* María Dolores Gonzales wrote a creative nonfiction memoir about her time in Llano Estacado, called ''Atop the Windmill: I Could See Forever.''
*The region is mentioned in the song “Sweet Amarillo” by the band Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, '' Remedy'', released in 2014, won the Gr ...
.
*It is possible, but unverifiable, that the region is the origin for the term ‘the sticks’, which refers to a rural, undeveloped area.
See also
*Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway
Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway is a Texas state park located along the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado in Briscoe County, Texas, United States, approximately southeast of Amarillo. The state park opened in 1982 and is in size, mak ...
*Caprock Chief
The ''Caprock Chief'' or ''Caprock Xpress'' was a proposed Amtrak inter-city rail service which would run from Fort Worth, Texas to Denver, Colorado, passing through the Texas Panhandle, which currently does not have passenger rail service of an ...
* Canyon Valley
*Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork ...
*Duffy's Peak
Duffy's Peak is a small hill or butte near the Salt Fork Brazos River in Garza County, Texas. Duffy's Peak extends less than above the river, yet despite its small size, it served as an important landmark for early surveyors of the region and is ...
*Estacado, Texas
Estacado is a ghost town in Crosby and Lubbock Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Located along Farm to Market Road 1527, it was established in 1879 as a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) colony by Paris Cox and originally named Maryetta aft ...
*List of geographical regions in Texas
Texas is the second-largest state in the United States, with an area of and a population of 29.14 million in 254 counties. This covers an area wide by long. Due to its location and size, it is a part of a large number of unique geological reg ...
*Mushaway Peak
Mushaway Peak is a small but conspicuous butte located southeast of Gail in central Borden County, Texas. It is one of the region's most venerable landmarks.
The summit of this peak rises to an altitude of above sea level, which is roughly the ...
*Mount Blanco
Mount Blanco is a small white hill — an erosional remnant — located on the eastern border of the Llano Estacado within Blanco Canyon in Crosby County, Texas. With Blanco Canyon, it is the type locality of the Blanco Formation of Texas and Kans ...
*Ogallala Aquifer
The Ogallala Aquifer () is a shallow water table aquifer surrounded by sand, silt, clay, and gravel located beneath the Great Plains in the United States. One of the world's largest aquifers, it underlies an area of approximately in portio ...
*Palo Duro Canyon
Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon system of the Caprock Escarpment located in the Texas Panhandle near the cities of Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo and Canyon, Texas, Canyon. As the second-largest canyon in the United States, it is roughly long and has an ...
*Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River
Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River is a sandy-braided stream about long, formed at the confluence of Palo Duro Creek and Tierra Blanca Creek, about northeast of Canyon in Randall County, Texas, and flowing east-southeastward to the Red River abou ...
*Salt Fork Brazos River
The Salt Fork Brazos River is a braided, highly intermittent stream about long, heading along the edge of the Llano Estacado about east-southeast of Lubbock, Texas. From its source, it flows generally east-southeastward to join the Double Mou ...
*Settles Hotel
The Settles Hotel is a historic 15-story hotel located at 200 East Third Street in Big Spring, Texas. Originally completed in 1930, the Settles opened for business October 1, 1930. It operated from 1930 until the early 1980s, and was subsequently ...
*Yellow House Canyon
Yellow House Canyon is about long, heading in Lubbock, Texas, at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw, and trending generally southeastward to the edge of the Llano Estacado about east of Slaton, Texas; it forms one of three ma ...
References
External links
Public domain photos of the Llano Estacado
"The Definition of 'Llano Estacado' in the U.S. and Around the World"
''ThoughtCo.''
El Llano Estacado: The Vast, Staked, Palisaded Plain
Detailed map of the Llano Estacado in KML (Google Earth) format
{{Authority control
Great Plains
Plateaus of the United States
Regions of New Mexico
Regions of Texas
Regions of the Western United States
Geology of Texas
Geology of New Mexico