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Salt
Flat
Courtesy of Jason Penney, 2000 |
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Welcome
to Salt Flat
Courtesy of Jason Penney, 2000 |
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History in
a Pecan Shell
Although
the major events occurred just East of El Paso at San Elizario,
the salt lakes* here
were the cause of the much written about San Elizario Salt War.
It's an interesting chapter of Texas history and is usually included
in most books written about the Texas Rangers.
*The
salt came from shallow lakes that formed after rains in the Guadalupe
Mountains. It was "mined" for cattle as late as the 1930s,
but wells drilled in Dell City
lowered the water table to where there was less and less salt deposited.
You can check
the Handbook of Texas Online under Salt War of San Elizario
for the details, but in a nutshell it was a non-family feud
that came about when a claim for title was sought for the flats
which was thought by many (including the rival faction) to be public
property.
During its seven-year
simmer, the "war" claimed fewer than a dozen lives, but since it
involved factions on both sides of the border and the Texas Rangers
as well as the Army, it demands its place as a (rather large) footnote
to El Pasoan and West Texas History. Because of the
Salt War Fort Bliss was reestablished later the same year
it had been abandoned (1877).
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Ruins
in the desert
Courtesy of Jason Penney, 2000 |
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physical town of Salt Flat can be traced back to a vegetable farmer
who sold produce in Van
Horn. J.W. Hammack was his name and he was employed at nearby
ranches just after the turn of the (19th) century. He raised a family
here and in 1928 his son got wind of a planned highway connecting
El
Paso with Carlsbad, New Mexico. This valuable information was
gotten from the highway surveyors according to T. Lindsey Baker's
Ghost Towns of Texas. |
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Salt Flat motel row
Courtesy of Jason Penney, 2000
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Tourist
court ruins
Courtesy of Jason Penney, 2000 |
Things
were just opening up for the independent driver during this time as
attested to by the opening of the numerous hotels in West Texas. See
El Capitan, El
Paisano, (coming soon - The Gage and Las Lomas) in our Rooms
with a Past
series.
A store and gas station were potential gold mines and Hammack had
the location. Almost immediately competition arrived and Salt Flat
soon had 2 stores and 2 gas stations. Both store owners opened cafes
and then "Tourist Courts," which were the forerunners of motels.
Van
Horn Hotels >
Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
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The
Salt Flat Cafe
Courtesy of Jason Penney, 2000 |
Flying
over the Guadalupe
Mountains was difficult before aircraft cabins were pressurized.
An early passenger airplane crash in 1932 prompted the government
to create an emergency landing field at Salt Flat. FFA personnel manned
the field 24 hours a day until technological advances made it obsolete
in the 1960s.
El
Paso Hotels >
Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
Salt Flat
Texas Forum
Subject:
The Mayor of Guadalupe
Pass
Dear TE, I am elated to find your magazine and your article on Guadalupe
Pass. I was once called the Mayor of Guadalupe Pass. This may
seem strange but it's true. I lived two miles South of Guadalupe
Pass for several years. I also lived at Salt Flat, Texas and taught
(other) young men to fly from the Salt Flat Intermediate Landing
Field. I climbed to the top of Guadalupe Pass long before it became
a National Park and I fell in love with the entire area. This was
back in 1948 and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.
I flew by (and around?) El Capitan for many years en route from
Midland to El Paso. My good friend Bertha Glover and her husband
owned the Pine Spings Cafe.... Mrs.Glover received a letter one
day from a lady in Fort Worth, addressed to "The Mayor at Guadalupe
Pass." Mrs. Glover designated me to be the Official Mayor because
she said she had that "authority." I did answer the letter as I
figured a Mayor from Guadalupe Pass would. I have both of these
letters in my files and will try to send them in when they are found.
You are doing a superb service. There is a lot of lost Texas History
and [only] a few of us Ol' timers still around. I might as well
"fess up" - I was 86 years old in November this year. - Sincerely,
David Finnell, Hurst, Texas, The Former Mayor of Guadalupe Peak,
December 8, 2007
Subject:
Salt Flat, Texas
I am a near-native of Salt Flat Texas. Though I was born in El Paso,
my mother was from Salt Flat. My grandparents, Clyde and Catherine
Grable, owned the "second" cafe in Salt Flat. I remember it well,
as we lived there for a number of years and spent many vacations
there. It was a wonderful place for a boy to live, full of hot sun,
thunderstorms, horned toads, bats (lived in the garage), snakes
and other desert dwellers. As a teenager spending the summer, walks
across the desert with a 4/10 shotgun in hand was heaven. There
are many adventures that occurred naturally there that now, seems
more adventurous than the urbanized/civilized man I've become. My
parents are both alive, though my grandparents have passed on. Eighteen
years ago I visited Salt Flat, many years after my grandfather sold
it. Nothing remained that I remembered and the only thing remarkable
was the amount of grass visible, nurtured from the sand by a rare
rainy season. Though I would like to hear from others who might
remember my family, I'm not sure any survive. There are many stories,
names and events I know we could hash over. Perhaps, if anyone remains,
we could talk about going to the movie in Dell
City, or "headlighting" jackrabbits on the airstrip or back
highway to Dell
City, or picnics at McKittrick Canyon or visits to Ma and Pa
Glovers at Nickel Creek. I know my mother was glad to leave there,
but I wish it was a place to which I could return.
I would be glad to hear from others concerning Salt Flat. There
is a lot of history, both personal and "Texas-type" that would be
fun to share. My email address is mbmlpcctl@hotmail.com. Please
share this. Thanks for your time, Mike Mitchell, June 03, 2006
I may be the
only person alive today that helped clear the first rangeland near
the location where Dell
City is today.
In 1946 a group of Lynn county farmers went to Salt Flats to grub
out the Mesquite trees and turn this ranch land into farming land.
Thad Smith and his brother Ores Smith. Thad Smith owned the Hd 14
Alas Chambers Crawler that the grubbing ploy was mounted on. The
two drivers of this rig were Harley Smith, and JB Williams. Harley
and JB were brother in laws, Vera Harley's wife also lived at the
camp or near by, they slept in their 40 model Ford. Camp was a little
shotgun one room house that most of us slept and eat in, everyone
had his army cot and a change of clothes.
I remember the old Cafe. I think it was sort of a cafeteria style
back then. We had been home for a few days and were returning to
camp and back to our jobs and we would always stop at Salt Flats
and have apple pie and coffee. On this trip JB and his sister Vera
had brought along their (Getair) and Mandolin, and they played on
and on and on, everyone would holler one more time. Pilipino Baby.
To get to the place where we camped we would turn north just east
of the Salt Flat Cafe and down a cow trail road through I think
seven gates, I know I got smarter as I would always try to set in
the middle so I wouldn't have to open those gates, I was just a
boy at the time, my job was burning the brush that my dad and uncle
raked up into big piles. With a big rake they had invented and welded
with our little farm welder and hauled all the way over to Salt
Flat on a bob tail truck.
The first crop that was planted was Alfa, it didn't turn out very
well because they had the land in borders, and were going to use
flood irrigation like they use to do over in the Hondo valley, well
the water wouldn't flow the way it was supposed to and Mr. Stone,
the big boss decided to level it after it had been planted so all
of the Alfa ended up at one end of the field.
The thing I remember most is how that dirt would make my hair stand
straight up and my mom would say I looked like I had been plugged
into a light socket, I was 14 years at the time. I worked through
the summer and up into the fall then had to go back home and go
to school, we were always late getting into school as we would have
to pull cotton to pay for shoes and a coat to wear to school, that
was the good old days.
There was a government trapper working that area back then and he
would stop by our camp every time he was in that area and I would
get to go with him and help him run his trap line. Coyotes and Bob
cats was what he would catch most of the time. When the rabbits
ate up the cotton I'm sure there were folks that would have liked
to have had the Coyotes and Bob cats back.
Dad and I, along with my wife and son and my mother drove over to
Dell City in 1958 just to see the town and to look around some and
we felt kind proud that we had a little part in making that happen,
we were the first ones to acutely start the farms. They pumped the
first water into reservoirs and that was part of my job at times
to watch for Gopher holes in the dam's, it would wash out in a short
time and no way you could stop it once it got ahead of you and that
shovel.
I have rambled on more than I should have but when I saw your story
and how you had opened the old Cafe up again it brought back lots
of memories, and all the folks that I went out there with are all
gone on but they are the ones that got it all started. Thanks for
listening I would like to do it all over again. - Glen Lowe,
Lubbock, TX, August 08, 2005
Van
Horn Hotels >
Book Your Hotel Here & Save
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Subject:
Salt Flat Cafe Will Turn 75 years old and being run by Granddaughter
I just wanted to let you know that after the death of my mother,
Isobel Hammack Gilmore, I have started taking care of the Salt Flat
Cafe. It will be 75 years old on November 20, 2004. I don't plan
a great big celebration but would like people to know that it is
still in operation, we still have bus service and are still cooking
good meals. We still offer the same friendly service that my Grandparents
and Parents offered. Come and see us. I am still working on getting
the many many pictures of the history my family left me. Thanks
- Shirley J. Gilmore Richardson, June 08, 2004
That excellent,
definitive style is present again in the Salt Flats article. I cannot
begin to express the extreme enjoyment I received while reading
the story and allow me to also offer "congrats" to Jason Penny for
the excellent photos, which really added to the "being there experience".
- Mike Gerrick
To
share history or photos of Salt Flat, please contact
us
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