DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Eagle's Nest, out in Val Verde County. Now, before we get into the town, before the railroad, before the Rangers and the ranchers, you've got to picture what this place looks like. We're talking about the confluence of the Pecos River and the Rio Grande — two rivers meeting in one of the most remote and dramatic landscapes you're liable to find anywhere in Texas.
And humans, the marker tells us, are believed to have traveled through this stretch for centuries. Centuries. This wasn't a hidden place.
It was a crossroads, whether the maps said so or not. But here's the detail that'll stick with you. Across the river from this site, up on the cliffs, there lived a pair of golden eagles.
And they built their nest there. That nest — belonging to just two birds on a canyon wall — gave its name to the canyon, to the crossing downstream from it, and eventually to the community that took root on the other side of the Rio Grande. A railroad camp came first, as they often did out here.
And the crossing that bore the eagles' name had already seen Indian tribes, ranchers, soldiers, and Texas Rangers pass through before the first railroad tie was ever laid. The town that grew up there did so in no small part because of the Torres family. They owned the townsite, and they provided water for the steam locomotives — which, out in this desert country, was no small thing.
The Torres family made the place viable. The town eventually became known as Langtry, and the name changed, but what didn't change was that nest up on the cliff. Even after Langtry was Langtry, the eagle's nest remained a well-known landmark.
Two birds, one cliff, one canyon. Everything else just built up around them.
What the marker says
Eagle's Nest Humans are believed to have traveled through the remote and dramatic landscape near the confluence of the Pecos River and the Rio Grande for centuries. For years, the cliff across the river from this site was home to a pair of golden eagles, whose nest gave name to the canyon and crossing downstream from it, as well as the community that began on this side of the Rio Grande as a railroad camp. The crossing was used by Indian tribes, ranchers, soldiers and Texas Rangers. The town, later known as Langtry, grew due to efforts of the Torres family, who owned the townsite and provided water for steam locomotives. Even after the town's name changed, the eagle's nest was a well-known landmark. (2003)