Captain Henry Skillman, C.S.A.

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the voice along for the ride. Henry Skillman. The name alone ought to ring out across these Presidio County flats like a rifle shot on a cold morning.

Born in Kentucky, came to Texas before 1846, and from that point forward, the man seemed to have made a personal agreement with the most unforgiving country on the continent. He scouted for the U.S. Army in the Mexican War, and when that was done, he didn't exactly slow down.

In 1851, he established the first mail service from San Antonio to El Paso. Not a road that already existed, not a comfortable route. That route.

Through all of it. Then, in 1858, he drove the very first Butterfield Overland Mail coach. The very first one.

And the path he took ran through dangerous Comanche Indian territory, from Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos all the way to El Paso. Now, here's where you sit up a little straighter around that campfire. He was skinning mule teams that had never been driven before.

Six feet of the man wrapped in buckskins, decorated (that's the word the marker uses, decorated) with revolvers and Bowie knives, his sandy hair and beard flowing clean to his waist. And he made that drive in four days. No rest.

No relief. Just Skillman and the mules and the desert and whatever was out there watching. When the Civil War came, he rode for the Confederacy as a scout.

Then, after July 1862, when Federal forces seized El Paso and the Davis Mountains (the longest enemy occupation in Texas, the marker is careful to note), Skillman's work got quieter and more dangerous. He became a liaison and courier to a Confederate refugee colony over in Juarez. He knew the country.

He knew the people. And he moved through it all without fear of the Federals. He spread false rumors of Confederates massed out in remote deserts, sending Union troops off on fruitless, exhausting chases through country that had no mercy for the uninitiated.

He became the most dreaded scout known to the occupation. Which, as you might imagine, made him a problem someone needed to solve. The Union Commander singled him out.

A force was commissioned specifically to take Henry Skillman alive. On April 3, 1864, at a camp at Spencer's Ranch, not far from where this marker stands, they found him. He resisted capture.

Federal troops killed him there. Four days without rest to drive the first Butterfield coach. Years moving like a ghost through occupied territory.

And in the end, it wasn't the desert or the Comanches or the distance that stopped him. It was the one morning he was found before he could move.

What the marker says

Born in Kentucky. Came to Texas before 1846. Was a U. S. Army scout in Mexican War. Established first mail service from San Antonio to El Paso in 1851. Drove first Butterfield Overland Mail coach in 1858 through dangerous Comanche Indian territory from Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos to El Paso. "Skinning" Mule teams never driven before, made the drive in 4 days without rest or relief, his 6-foot frame in buckskins decorated with revolvers and Bowie knives, and his sandy hair and beard flowing to his waist. A Confederate scout in the Civil War. After July 1862, when Federals seized El Paso and the Davis Mountains (to make the longest enemy occupation in Texas), liaison and courier toConfederate refugee colony in Juarez. Knowing country and people well, moved without fear of the Federals. Spread false rumors of Confederates massed in remote deserts, to send enemy troops on fruitless, exhausting chases. Most dreaded scout known to the occupation. Singled out by the Union Commander, was hunted by force commissioned to take him alive. Was killed resisting capture by Federal troops in camp at Spencer's Ranch near here on April 3, 1864. (1964)