Horshead Crossing, Pecos River, Texas

photo coutesy Mike Capron

Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos River was the main crossing for the Jumano Indians on their trading excursions, the Comanche Indians on raids into Mexico, the early immigrants on their way to California, the Butterfield Overland Mail, and the numerous freighters and cattle drovers on their way to New Mexico and Colorado.

Horsehead Crossing was one of the few fordable points on the Pecos River in the early days of this wild and open territory. The steep, muddy banks of the Pecos River, its unpredictable currents, and quicksand were a danger in most other locations for many miles in each direction. After long treks across the surrounding desert, water-starved animals drank themselves to death or became hopelessly mired in the mud at the river’s crossing. This was especially true for the horses of the Comanche raiders coming back from Mexico, where horses were the main commodity of the raids. The skulls of horses littered the banks of the river and secured the name of Horsehead Crossing into the future.