San Antonio-El Paso Road
The San Antonio-El Paso Road, a vital artery of commerce and military transport, etched its mark upon the landscape of Texas between 1849 and 1882. Functioning as the Lower Emigrant Road and, at times, the Military Road, this rugged pathway connected the burgeoning cities of San Antonio and El Paso, facilitating the movement of mail, freight, and intrepid passengers across the challenging terrain of the Edwards Plateau and the formidable Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. This route played a crucial role in the early development of the region, fostering trade and enabling westward expansion.
The story of the San Antonio-El Paso Road is interwoven with the burgeoning identity of Texas itself. Following its annexation into the United States as the 28th state on December 29, 1845, and the subsequent Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which established the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico, the need for robust transportation infrastructure became paramount. The vast distances within the newly acquired territory, coupled with the strategic importance of connecting the Gulf Coast with El Paso and Chihuahua, Mexico, spurred the U.S. Army to prioritize the establishment and protection of reliable routes. The discovery of gold in California in 1849 further amplified this urgency, as the San Antonio-El Paso Road became a potential link for emigrants and commercial freighters heading west.
In the early years of Texas statehood, the U.S. Army faced considerable logistical hurdles in maintaining an efficient supply system, particularly for its mobile horse-mounted cavalry units. The limited carrying capacity of a single cavalry horse, typically capped at 250 pounds, restricted soldiers to a bare minimum of ammunition, clothing, rations, and grain. Consequently, pack trains or wagon trains were essential for transporting the bulk of equipment and supplies. While escort wagons drawn by mules could carry between 1,200 and 3,300 pounds of cargo, their maneuverability was limited to relatively flat terrain. Pack mule trains, with each animal capable of carrying up to 250 pounds, proved more adaptable to the rugged landscapes of the Pecos and Devils River Valleys.
In 1848, Colonel John Coffee Hays, a renowned Texas Ranger and surveyor, spearheaded one of the initial expeditions from San Antonio to El Paso. The primary objective was to assess the feasibility of establishing a practical and convenient route for both military and commercial purposes. Accompanying Hays were Delaware Indian scouts, Richard S. Howard, a San Antonio businessman and former Texas Ranger, 35 Texas Rangers under Captain Samuel Highsmith, and a contingent of private citizens and businessmen from San Antonio. The expedition followed the Llano River to its source, crossed the geographical divide, and arrived at the San Pedro River. After struggling for three days to ford the river, the expedition renamed it the Devils River, a name it retains to this day. Interestingly, portions of modern Texas Highway 163, stretching from Comstock to Ozona, trace the original route mapped by the Hays Expedition. The challenges faced by this group highlight the difficulties inherent in traversing the Texas landscape and underscore the importance of finding a reliable path, which the San Antonio-El Paso Road would eventually provide.
The arrival of Brevet Major General William J. Worth in Texas in December 1848 marked a significant increase in the U.S. Army’s presence in the region. Worth was tasked with stationing troops along the Rio Grande and in frontier settlements, as well as surveying the territory west of San Antonio towards Santa Fe, New Mexico. The following year, the U.S. Army conducted at least seven official reconnaissance missions across western Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, and the Gulf Coastal Plain. These expeditions, often led by officers from the Bureau of Topographical Engineers, meticulously mapped routes, noting the location and distance between watering holes, campsites, and major stream crossings. This systematic approach was crucial for establishing a reliable transportation network and solidifying American control over the newly acquired lands.
The allure of California’s gold fields intensified the need for secure routes from Texas to the West Coast. In January 1849, even before the Army’s official surveys, a group of 25 men, led by Mr. Peoples, followed the Hays Expedition route through Val Verde County, becoming the first known group from Texas to reach California. A month later, another group, calling themselves "The Kinney Rangers," also successfully traversed the same path. These early ventures underscored the potential of the San Antonio-El Paso Road as a vital link to the west.
The Whiting-Smith Expedition, launched on February 12, 1849, represented the first official surveying endeavor by the Bureau of Topographic Engineering. Under the joint command of Lieutenants W. H. C. Whiting and William F. Smith, the expedition departed San Antonio with the aim of exploring a viable route to El Paso for both military and commercial purposes, accompanied by numerous emigrants bound for California. The expedition initially followed the upper route, tracing the San Saba River to its headwaters before turning west towards the Pecos River and El Paso.
While the expedition encountered friendly Lipan Apache groups along the San Saba and Pecos Rivers, they faced hostility west of the Pecos River, where they were surrounded by hundreds of Apache warriors. Despite the tense encounter, the expedition was ultimately allowed to proceed, arriving in El Paso on April 12, 1849.
The return journey of the Whiting-Smith Expedition followed a more southerly route, primarily due to the scarcity of water between the Pecos and San Saba Rivers. This alternative route descended the Rio Grande Valley for approximately 100 miles before turning eastward towards the Pecos River. The expedition then followed the Pecos River Valley for about 60 miles before veering towards the Devils River. The location chosen to cross the Devils River was chosen because it was the first location that allowed the wagons to cross above its confluence with the Rio Grande. From April to October 1854, the first crossing on the Devils River was protected by Camp Blake. Lieutenant Smith deemed the return route more practical and estimated that the existing trail could be widened and made passable for Army freight trains within a few weeks.
Lieutenant Whiting recognized that maintaining security along the lower route would necessitate the establishment of a chain of forts at strategic locations. This recommendation led to the construction of Fort Clark in 1852, Fort Davis in 1854, Fort Lancaster in 1854, and Camp Hudson in 1857.
Despite the presence of these forts, safe passage along the San Antonio-El Paso Road remained a challenge until the 1870s, following the Civil War. The expedition maps revealed the scarcity of water sources west of the Pecos River, prompting Jefferson Davis, then U.S. Secretary of War, to task Captain John Pope with digging water wells in areas where water was scarce. However, the project yielded limited success, as the wells rarely produced sufficient water to meet the demands of travelers.
In March 1849, the U.S. Army and a group of citizens from Austin, Texas, organized a freight train to establish direct commercial ties with El Paso. Led by Major Robert S. Neighbors and Doctor John S. Ford, the group included Austin businessmen and several "friendly Indians," including Delaware, Shawnee, Comanche, and Choctaw representatives. The Neighbors-Ford Expedition, though not officially sanctioned by the Bureau of Topographical Engineering, contributed valuable knowledge of the routes to and from El Paso, further solidifying the federal government’s broader exploration efforts in Texas.
The Neighbors-Ford and Whiting-Smith Expeditions generally followed the same outbound route to El Paso, but diverged on their return journeys. The Neighbors-Ford Expedition’s route became known as the "upper road," while the Whiting-Smith Expedition’s route became known as the "lower road." The lower road, connecting San Felipe Springs (present-day Del Rio) to Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos River, eventually became known as the Military or Government Road. To settlers heading to California, the route was also known as the lower immigrant road.
To assess the feasibility of the Whiting-Smith Expedition’s recommendation to establish the lower road as the primary route from San Antonio to El Paso, the U.S. Army organized a large freight train under the command of Brevet Major Jefferson Van Horn. This expedition, consisting of six companies of the Third Infantry, 275 wagons, and 2,500 animals, traversed the challenging terrain of Val Verde County, crossed the Devils River multiple times, and eventually reached El Paso on September 8, 1849, completing the 650-mile journey in 100 days.
Van Horn’s expedition definitively demonstrated the viability of the San Antonio-El Paso Road as a major transportation artery.
President Franklin Pierce sought to secure the Mesilla Valley in New Mexico, considered the most practical route for a southern transcontinental railway. This led to the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, where the United States acquired approximately 30,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million.
The legacy of the San Antonio-El Paso Road lies in its pivotal role in opening the American West. From the 1850s to the early 1880s, this road served as a crucial link in the development of the region. However, the completion of the southern transcontinental railroad in 1883 abruptly changed the landscape. The railway provided a faster and cheaper means of transporting troops, equipment, and messages, leading to the decline of the San Antonio-El Paso Road as a major transportation route.