History

Millions of years ago, there was a tropical sea covering this desert.

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History Details

Millions of years ago, there was a tropical sea covering this desert. Over time, various marine algae and sponges built up to form the Capitan Reef, a 400-mile long horseshoe-shaped limestone reef. As the sea receded, it left layers of sediment and minerals covering the reef. The reef stayed hidden under this protective layer of sediment for millions of years. However several periods of geological "uplift" pushed the limestone back to the surface. Portions of the reef are still visible today, in the form of Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains National Park area has been inhabited for over 10,000 years. Petroglyphs as well as physical artifacts indicate that hunter-gatherers lived here. In more recent times, the area was the turf of the Mescalero Apache Native Americans, a nomadic tribe whose main focus was harvesting agave. They used horses to defend their territory-- horses which had been introduced to the region by Spaniards in the 1600s. In the 1850s, white settlers came to the area and established the Pinery Station for the Butterfield Overland Mail service, which the Apache interpreted as an invasion. They fought back, but their horses were no match for the settlers' full military force. Once the conflict had been abated, settlers tried to use the land for ranching, though it quickly became clear that it was too hot and arid to be of much use. Many of the ranch houses and other historic sites at the park-- like the Frijoles Ranch and Williams Ranch-- are relics from this early moment in U.S. history. The real shifting point came when Wallace Pratt visited the region and purchased a 6,000-acre chunk of McKittrick Canyon, which he used as a vacation property until turning it over to the federal government.

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