High Desert Vista in Hudspeth County
White salt flats and friendly folks
To quote Franz Kafka, “First impressions are always unreliable.”
My first impression of the region of the northern part of Far West Texas that borders New Mexico was “Meh, why would I want to go there — what’s to see except for the Guadalupe Mountains?” Being from San Antonio and the Hill Country my whole life, when I accepted the job as executive director of the Texas Mountain Trail, I knew there were many places I hadn’t visited in Far West Texas, aside from the Big Bend region. It’s a huge remote area that takes weeks, if not a lifetime, to discover. The first time I headed north up Highway 90 and beyond to meet the Guadalupe Mountains, I was in awe, thunderstruck!
But this isn’t a story about the Guads — we’ll save that for another issue. I want to talk about Hudspeth County, and when I fell in love with this part of Texas.
New on the job, I met one of my board members, who happens to reside in Dell City (population 349 as of 2013), and, in my usual awkward way, jokingly asked, “What? Why do you live in Dell City — are you part of the witness protection program?” Thankfully it went off with a laugh, and I admitted with some embarrassment that I’d never been there.
Months later I had a meeting with the superintendent at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. My husband and I had a new puppy, Bear, and I wasn’t ready to leave him home alone, so I persuaded my husband to play hooky and take the trip with me. He did, and off we went, the three of us. After my meeting, my husband and I decided to spend the rest of the day exploring the area. We headed west on Highway 62, and that’s when we spotted the salt flats. Acres and acres of white sand sitting at the edge of the fortress of the Guadalupe Mountains.
DEEP WATER Oil prospectors in 1948 discovered underground water in Dell City, allowing for the irrigation necessary to support farming in the area.
If you’re lucky enough to be in this remote area when there are rains, the salt flats turn into a beautiful lagoon-like lake with crystal clear, pale water. We stopped for a while and took the obligatory photos with Bear and continued on.
You can get to Dell City by Highway 1576 or 1437 — either way is great, so we went up one way and back the other. Heading north, the landscape began to change from harsh Chihuahuan desert to lush green fields of crops. Dell City, about four miles from the New Mexico border, was incorporated in 1948 shortly after the discovery of large amounts of underground water by oil prospectors, a boon that attracted farmers to the area. The area had been primarily devoted to sheep and goat ranching before the discovery of the water. This discovery made possible the irrigation of some 40,000 acres and led to the founding of the town. Farming in the area still prospers, but because of its ups and downs in population the city has been on the verge of being a ghost town more than once.
From the 1950s to the present, the population has ranged from 180 to 950 but continued to sustain business. In the early 1990s, when the population was 569, the town had about 30 busi-nesses. By 2000, there were only 413 residents — but 32 businesses. Among the crops raised in the area are long-staple cotton, onions and tomatoes.
Before going home to Alpine, we stopped at a convenience store and asked the clerk what crops were grown in Dell City, with all those green fields. Her answer: “Cot-in.” We loved her local accent and now always refer to cotton with that inflection. The locals are homegrown, friendly, real people — it doesn’t get any better that that. Don’t rely on first impressions!
