Spanish Explorers' Route

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, so take it straight from the record. Now, out here on the Llano Estacado, the land has a way of keeping secrets. Flat, wide, and relentless.

But if you know where to look, the ground itself will tell you a story. And this one starts before memory. Before Texas had a name.

Before any of it. A prehistoric road, worn into the earth by Indians long before any European boot touched this soil. That's where we begin.

The Indians found it, used it, and shaped it. Then the Spaniards came. Then United States Army units.

Then cattle drovers. All of them, moving along the same ancient path, like a thread stitched through centuries. The route crossed the Llano Estacado, running from Gholson Spring, seven miles east of what is now Slaton, down to Tahoka Lake, three miles south of Wilson, then on to Tobacco Creek, Big Spring, and the North Concho.

That right there is some serious ground covered. Now here's where the story picks up its pace. In the 17th century, the Spanish started showing up on this road, and they came for different reasons, which tells you something about the nature of the road itself.

It drew people, but not the same kind of people. First was Father Salas, who came from New Mexico in 1629. Not for gold, not for conquest.

He came because the Jumano Indians had sent word, had actually pleaded, asking him to come and preach to them. So he made that journey, following this ancient path, answering that call. Then, in 1650, Captains Hernan Martin and Diego del Castillo came through, exploring.

Two captains, one road, one mission of discovery. And then just four years later, in 1654, Captain Diego de Guadalajara traveled this same stretch seeking pearls and other treasure. Pearls.

On the Llano Estacado. That alone ought to make you stop and think about how different this land looked to a man arriving from New Mexico three and a half centuries ago. Three expeditions, three different purposes, all drawn to the same worn trace across the same flat, ancient earth.

A prehistoric road that never asked anyone's permission and never needed to. It just kept going, and somehow, so did the story.

What the marker says

A prehistoric road discovered and used by Indians, Spaniards, United States Army units, and cattle drovers. It crossed the Llano Estacado from Gholson Spring (7 mi. E. of present-day Slaton), to Tahoka Lake (3 mi. S. of Wilson), then to Tobacco Creek, Big Spring, and the North Concho. Here passed many 17th century Spanish visitors: Father Salas, coming from New Mexico in 1629 on pleas of Jumano Indians to preach to them; Captains Hernan Martin and Diego del Castillo, exploring in 1650; Captain Diego de Guadalajara, seeking pearls and other treasure, in 1654. Incise on back: Historian - Dr. W. C. Holden Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967