The San Antonio–El Paso Road, also known as the Lower Emigrant Road or Military Road, was an economically important trade route between the

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 ...

cities of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

and

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

between 1849 and 1882. Mail, freight, and passengers traveled by horse and wagon along this road across 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 ...

and dangerous

Trans-Pecos The Trans-Pecos, as originally defined in 1887 by the Texas geologist Robert T. Hill, is the portion of Texas that lies west of the Pecos River. The term is considered synonymous with Far West Texas, a subdivision of West Texas. The Trans-Peco ...

region of

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...

. The "

Upper Emigrant Road Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found f ...

" originated at

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

and skirted the north of the Edwards Plateau. It intersected the Lower Road near Comanche Springs west of Horsehead Crossing 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 ...

. In 1848, businessmen in San Antonio hired

John Coffee Hays John Coffee "Jack" Hays (January 28, 1817 – April 21, 1883) was an American military officer. A captain in the Texas Rangers and a military officer of the Republic of Texas, Hays served in several armed conflicts from 1836 to 1848, including a ...

to find a route to El Paso. Hays and a squad of Texas Rangers spent three and a half months on their quest, but only made it as far as

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 ...

due to lack of food and water. By 1849, gold seekers wishing to get to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to stake claims were arriving in Texas and looking for opportunities to travel west.

Brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

William J. Worth ordered

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

William H.C. Whiting William Henry Chase Whiting (March 22, 1824 – March 10, 1865) was a United States Army officer who resigned after 16 years of service in the Army Corps of Engineers to serve in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He ...

and Lieutenant

William Farrar Smith William Farrar Smith (February 17, 1824February 28, 1903), known as "Baldy" Smith, was a Union general in the American Civil War, notable for attracting the extremes of glory and blame. He was praised for his gallantry in the Seven Days Battles a ...

to find a suitable route to El Paso. They were to follow Hays' trail to Presidio and continue up the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

to El Paso. The team made it to El Paso, but believed the route was unsatisfactory. On the return trip, they traveled down the Rio Grande for 100 miles, then headed east for the

. They followed the Pecos to Devils River and the Devils back to the Rio Grande. From there, they headed east to San Antonio. Brevet

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

William S. Harney, commanding the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in Texas after General Worth's death in the San Antonio

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic, ordered Lieutenant Smith to accompany

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American career army officer, serving with distinction in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia secede ...

on another survey expedition to El Paso. The survey party was escorted by a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

of the First Infantry. Also, six companies of the Third Infantry and a group of California-bound

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s accompanied them. One of these Forty-niners, Robert Eccleston, wrote a journal describing incidents of the journey and the land they passed over, with the mileage, each day along the route. The trail they followed to El Paso differed only slightly from Whiting and Smith's return route. This trail became known as the Lower or Military Road, and then the San Antonio-El Paso Road. "In 1850, the largest supply train to use the road" left

Fort Inge Fort Inge was a frontier fort in Uvalde County, Texas, United States. History Established as Camp Leona on March 13, 1849, Fort Inge was garrisoned intermittently until March 19, 1869. The fort served as a base for United States Army troops assign ...

for El Paso with 340 wagons, 4000 animals, 450 civilians, and 175 soldiers. To protect people and supplies along the road from Indians and

bandit Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...

s, the Army constructed a series of

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s: These included

(1849–1869), Fort Clark (1852–1944),

Fort Lancaster Fort Lancaster is a former United States Army installation located near Sheffield, Texas. The fort was established in 1855 on the San Antonio–El Paso Road to protect migrants moving toward California through Texas. The US Army occupied Fort Lanc ...

(1855–1862, 1867–1874),

Fort Stockton Fort Stockton is a city in and the county seat of Pecos County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, future Interstate 14, U.S. Highways U.S. Route 67 (Texas), 67, U.S. Route 285 (Texas), 285, and U.S. R ...

(1859–1862, 1867–1886), Fort Davis (1854–1862, 1867–1891),

Fort Quitman Fort Quitman was a United States Army installation on the Rio Grande in Texas, south of present-day Sierra Blanca, 20 miles southeast of McNary in southern Hudspeth County. The fort, now a ghost town, was named for former Mississippi Governor J ...

(1858–1861, 1868–1877, 1880–1882), and

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...

(1849–). The road was used for the San Antonio-El Paso Mail from 1851–1862 and 1866–1882, and as part of the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line route in 1857–1858. The

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service i ...

began using the Lower Road from Fort Stockton to El Paso in 1859–1861.

1859 table of distances along the San Antonio-El Paso Road

These distances were measured from one station or watering place to another from starting point.''Table of distances from Texas Almanac, 1859''
Book, ca. 1859; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123765/ accessed November 12, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association, Denton, Texas *

Leon River The Leon River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. It has three primary forks - the North, Middle, and South Leon Rivers, which meet near Eastland and then run for around until it meets with the Lampasas River and the Salado Creek to form ...

, 6.53 miles * Leon river to Castroville, on the

Medina River The Medina River is located in south central Texas, United States, in the Medina Valley. It was also known as the Rio Mariano, Rio San Jose, or Rio de Bagres (Catfish river). Its source is in springs in the Edwards Plateau in northwest Bander ...

, 18.0 miles * Castroville to Dharris Seco River, 25.28 miles * Dharris to Rancheros Creek, 8.38 miles * Ranchero Creek to

Sabinal River The Sabinal River, formerly Arroyo de la Soledad, is a stream in Uvalde and Bandera counties of the U.S. state of Texas. The upper part of the river runs through the Lost Maples State Natural Area, being fed by Hale, Hollow, and Can Creeks. Th ...

, 3.94 miles * Sabinal Creek to Camanche Creek, 5.0 miles * Camanche Creek to Rio Frio, 8.46 miles * Rio Frio to head of Leona River, " Uvalde", Fort Inge 6.08 miles * Uvalde to

Nueces River The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nueces'' ...

, 9.04 miles * Nueces to Turkey Creek, 10.27 miles * Turkey Creek to Elm Creek, 15.23 miles * Elm Creek to Las Moras River, Fort Clarke , 7.13 miles / 123.34 miles --- * Fort Clarke to Piedra Pinto, 7.0 miles * Piedra Pinto to Maverick Creek, 8.86 miles * Maverick Creek to

San Felipe Springs San Felipe Springs is a spring in Val Verde County, Texas Val Verde County is a county located on the southern Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population is 47,586. Its county seat is Del Rio. In 1936, Val Verde Count ...

, 12.61 miles * San Felipe to first crossing of San Pedro or Devil's River, 10.22 miles * First Crossing to Painted Caves, 2.54 miles * Painted Caves to California Spring, 15.73 miles * California Spring to Willow Spring, 2 miles * Willow Spring to Fort Hudson, and second crossing Pedro or Devil's River, 16.39 miles / 75.35 miles --- * Fort Hudson to head of San Pedro or Devil's River, 19.50 miles * Head of river to Howard Springs, 44 miles * Howard Springs to Live Oak Creek, 30.44 miles * Live Oak creek to

, 3 miles /96.94 miles --- * Fort Lancaster to Pecos Crossing, 4.29 miles * Pecos Crossing to

Pecos Spring Pecos Spring is a spring, 1.1 miles (3 km) northeast of Sheffield, in Pecos County, Texas. It lies at an elevation of 2060 feet. Pecos Spring was emitted from the Edwards and associated limestones of the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) aquifer. O ...

, 6 miles * Pecos Spring to

Leaving of Pecos Leaving of Pecos was originally a camping place along the west bank of the Pecos River, on the wagon road called the Lower Emigrant Road, Military Road or San Antonio-El Paso Road in Texas. It was located 38 miles north of the Lancaster Crossing o ...

, 32.26 miles * Leaving of Pecos to Arroyo Escondido, 16.26 miles * Arroyo Escondido to Escondido Spring, 8.58 miles * Escondido Spring to Comanche Springs, 19.40 miles * Comanche Spring to

Leon Hole Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, 8.88 miles * Leon Hole to Hackberry Pond, 11 miles * Hackberry pond to Limpia Creek, 32 miles * Limpia creek to Fort Davis, 18.86 miles /157.99 miles --- * Fort Davis to Point of Rocks, 10 miles * Point of Rocks to Barrel Springs, 8.42 miles * Barrel Springs to Deadman's Hole, 13.58 miles * Deadman's Hole to Van Horn's Wells, 32.83 miles * Van Horn's Wells to Eagle Springs, 19.74 miles * Eagle Springs to first camp on Rio Grande, 31.42 miles * First camp on Rio Grande to

Birchville Birchville is a suburb of Upper Hutt, New Zealand in the North Island. Its centre lies at the entrance to the Akatarawa Valley The Akatarawa Valley is a valley in the Tararua Range of New Zealand's North Island. It provides a link from the ...

, 35 miles / 150.99 miles --- * Birchville to San Eleazario, 24.8 miles * San Eleazario to Socorro, 5.45 miles * Socorro to Isletta, 3.1 miles * Isletta to

, Fort Bliss 14.14 miles / 47.49 miles

References

* Francell, Lawrence John. ''Fort Lancaster''. Texas State Historical Association, 1999.
''Military Map of the Rio Grande Frontier,'' Prepared from Original Surveys, County Maps, Reports of Officers, & etc., by Capt. W. R. Livermore, 1883
Includes entire length of San-Antonio–El Paso Road, with landmarks.
H. Stever, "Stagecoach Lines," ''Handbook of Texas Online,'' accessed September 05, 2016

Wayne R. Austerman, "San Antonio-El Paso Mail, ''Handbook of Texas Online,'' accessed September 06, 2016

''Reports of the Secretary of War: With Reconnaissances of Routes from San Antonio to El Paso, United States.'' Army. Corps of Topographical Engineers, Printed at the Union office, Washington, 1850

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Antonio-El Paso Road Trails and roads in the American Old West Historic trails and roads in the United States Historic trails and roads in Texas History of Texas San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line Butterfield Overland Mail in Texas Stagecoach stops in the United States 1849 establishments in Texas