DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say — and friend, this one is worth pulling over for. Now, every once in a while, a place and a thing become so linked in people's minds that you can't say one without thinking of the other. Pecos, Texas and the cantaloupe.
That's one of those pairings. And the marker right here in Reeves County lays out exactly how it happened. Residents back in the 1880s were already growing melons in their gardens, and they kept noticing something.
The sun out here, the soil under their boots — it was doing something to those melons that you just couldn't replicate somewhere else. The varieties were the same as what folks grew in other parts of the country. But the climate, the soil, and some particular cultivation methods developed right here were producing a flavor unlike anything else on the market.
That observation would take decades to grow into something big. Enter Madison L. Todd — born March 22, 1875 — who came to Pecos from east Texas and New Mexico with his wife Julia, born January 30, 1880.
They were settlers, strivers, the kind of people who look at dry West Texas land and see possibility rather than hardship. The year 1917 is where the story really picks up. Todd and a partner by the name of D.
T. McKee put eight acres of melons in the ground. Eight acres.
Now that doesn't sound like empire-building, but what they did with that harvest changed things. They sold part of the crop to the dining cars of the Texas and Pacific Railway. Travelers rolling across Texas and beyond got their first taste of a Pecos cantaloupe — and that, right there, is where the melon first became popular and fell into wide demand.
A dining car moving across the country turned out to be about the finest advertisement a fruit could ever hope for. McKee soon quit the business. But Todd?
Todd stayed. He remained a leader in the industry for forty-one years. Forty-one years.
In his later years, people simply called him the father of the industry, and you get the sense he wore that title the way a good man wears a well-earned hat — quietly and with dignity. He and Julia and their family were leaders in civic and religious life in Pecos too, the kind of folks a community builds itself around. And the reputation of that melon just kept climbing.
Famed lecturer Helen Keller ordered them. President Eisenhower ordered them. President Johnson ordered them.
Exclusive clubs in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and other cities became regular clients of Pecos growers. Think about that — a melon grown in the West Texas desert, showing up on the tables of some of the most prestigious addresses in America.
Genuine Pecos cantaloupes start ripening in July and stay on the market all the way through late October. And by the time this marker was put up in 1970, growers were planting two thousand acres annually. Two thousand acres — all of it tracing a line back to eight acres in 1917, a man named Todd, a partner named McKee, and a dining car rolling down the Texas and Pacific line.
Some things, it turns out, just belong to a place. And this place belongs to the cantaloupe.
What the marker says
Nationally famed melon, originated in this city. Residents from 1880s grew melons in gardens, noting sun and soil imparted a distinctive flavor. Madison L. Todd (March 22, 1875-Sept. 10, 1967) and wife Julia (Jan. 30, 1880-Feb. 5, 1969) came here from east Texas and New Mexico. In 1917 Todd and partner, D. T. McKee, grew eight acres of melons, selling part of crop to dining cars of Texas & Pacific Railway, where Pecos cantaloupes first became popular and in wide demand. McKee soon quit business, but Todd remained a leader for 41 years. Famed lecturer Helen Keller, Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson and many other distinguished persons have ordered and appreciated Pecos cantaloupes. Exclusive clubs in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and other cities are regular clients of Pecos growers. Genuine Pecos cantaloupes begin ripening in July and continue on the market until late October. The varieties are the same as those grown in other areas. Climate, soil and special cultivation methods account for the distinctiveness of Pecos melons. 2,000 acres are now planted annually. M. L. Todd was known in his later years as father of the industry. He and his wife and family were leaders in civic and religious enterprises. ( 1970).