Remnants of WEST TEXAS | GHOST TOWNS of Terlingua, Lajitas, Fort Leaton & Shafter
Вставка
- Опубліковано 16 лип 2024
- Texas is rarely thought of as being like the Southwest but we're here to tell you that isn't true! Some of the best-looking & most unique ghost towns lie in the desert of west Texas begging to be explored. Join us as we do just that today!
Tombstone, Bisbee, Bodie... they all conjure up different images of ghost towns of the American Southwest. But in the Chihuahua desert of west Texas, lie numerous ghost towns that just hit differently.
Adobe structures and influences from Mexico dot the landscape in border towns such as Terlingua, Lajitas, and Shafter.
Life of a trading post lies in the well-preserved Fort Leaton, part of Big Bend Ranch State Park.
You can't find these things in Arizona and they are magical!
VIDEO FILMED: 05/20/2022
▬▬ R E L A T E D V I D E O S ▬▬
⚪ Exploring VULTURE CITY GHOST TOWN | Vulture Mine | Verde Flat Cemetery | Ghosts of the Desert - • Exploring VULTURE CITY...
⚪ The Birth & Death of the Mining Town of RHYOLITE, NEVADA | Seeking Seldom Seen Slim - • The Birth & Death of t...
▬▬ T I M E S T A M P S ▬▬
00:00 Terlingua
11:17 Lajitas Cemetery
12:46 Fort Leaton
21:38 Shafter
▬▬ L I N K S ▬▬
⚪ Gear we use - www.amazon.com/shop/thecactus...
⚪ See where we've been - www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mi...
⚪ Music from Epidemic Sound - www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
(As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.)
_____________________________________________________________
✅ Find us on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook - @cactusatlas.
✅ Check out our website - cactusatlas.com
Welcome to the Cactus Atlas! We are Glenn and Amy and invite you to join us as we visit all sorts of locations across the American West. We tour both natural and man-made attractions.
Our base of operations is in the Phoenix, AZ area. We do a lot of hiking and day trips as well as campground reviews and hope that we will be a great resource if you are planning a trip to the American West. We also hope to delight you with our exciting adventures!
I've lived on and off in Terlingua for over 40yrs. Several have recently "discovered" the cool artsy place some have called home for decades. It's common NOW to have unseemly amounts of visitors all trying to get away from it all here at the same time so they show up here. Most leave thankfully, but some stay ...... Rethink your options if you can cause : It's 118 in the summer time, few restaurants, the plants cut,stick,make you bleed, it's often cold in the winter, rattlesnakes, coyotes that eat your pets, cruel wind storms, dust storms, droughts, 80 miles to town for parts, poor cell coverage, 230 to Odessa to a level II trauma center, 300 to El Paso for level I, nearest big box shopping 175 mi away in Ft. Stockton, and it goes on and on. Did I mention some of the locals are not safe after closing time! It is as many find out a difficult harsh reality check, so before you come to bring your problems, fears and troubles to our dusty part of the world, pause and think to yourself will the place be a better place if I come and I move there? If the answer is yes, then Bienvenido/welcome to our challenging community. Vivia Terlingua
You just convinced me. I'm moving there!
I’ve been to terlingua while visiting big bend twice. Once in March and the other in the summer. We had to cut our summer y rip short because of how oppressive the heat was. I don’t usually burn but I was sunburned after 10 minutes. I still say that the west Texas desert in summer is the hottest place I’ve ever been.
Its settled . I'm moving there to retire . Pretty sure I can handle what your saying. I do have a special set of skills . See you soon .
I am from California and this would make sense to me to move here and make a little CA here
@@RDBDallas 😂
When I see a cemetery like Lajitas it really reminds me of a movie like The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly. Another great video as always.
Right? I said that in another comment. It has such a strange familiarity to it as though you've seen it in a movie or used as inspiration for a video game already. Thanks so much!
I worked in Langtry Texas for over a year and I lived in a town of 18 people. The state had a historical expert rebuild an old house with adobe bricks he made on sight with local dirt, plastered the walls with mud and whitewashed the finish with goats milk and lime.
Small town indeed! We've seen a few places that have used old techniques to make adobe bricks to reconstruct buildings - Vulture City being one of them. Thanks for sharing your story! 😄
I'm usually not a fan of cemeteries, but West Texans looks to have some fine ones. They certainly give off that ambience of the Old West!
It felt like a movie set or setting from a video game. Really familiar feeling.
I came to Terlingua to attend the funeral of a childhood friend. After the funeral we spent a week hiking and enjoying the local vibe. It is similar and different from our cabin in northern Wisconsin woods……
You got To LOVE Texas🤠🤠💫
My Great Great Grandparents, & my Parents,we're born in Terlingua 1800's before it was called Terlingua!
That's really awesome! I would love to have been able to go back in time to see what it looked in those days. Thanks for sharing and stopping by our channel. 😄
Thanks for this informative video of Texas history.
Our pleasure!! Thank you as well! 😊
The Armendariz tombstones you talk about being recent in the Lajitas graveyard are my grandparents and my great grandma. :)
Oh, wow! Talk about a small world! 😲
We ate in lajitas!! On our way back from Big Bend National Park! Small world I guess.
Indeed! Such a cool town!
Really nice tour of old towns that once where people lived ,loved, and died! It's good to remember our towns and history,really glad to see your respect!
Thank you! We're suckers for old history. 😊
Thank you so much for this amazing video tour and history of the area!
Our pleasure! 😄
I never get tired of watching this one. This part of Texas is like a different planet and the scenery and history are second to none in the state.
All of Texas is vastly different from one another. I (Amy) spent nearly half my life in Central Texas and even the northern area like Dallas is vastly different in terms of landscape. But West Texas...? Gotta admit there's something curious and special about it.
@@CactusAtlas Girrrrl, no wonder you’re so cool! What part of Central Texas?
🤣 🙌 Austin area. Had family in the Dallas area as well as by the gulf so spent plenty of time in those areas as well as a kid. Still have family in Texas now. 👍
@@CactusAtlas Cool! I wonder if your excellent taste in music was influenced by your years in Austin, or if that’s a natural gift. Or both! In any event, your preference for flat ground certainly doesn’t keep you from making meaningful contributions to your channel. I appreciate your artistry.
Haha! The ironic thing is that the music I use in video isn't really anything I listen to normally. I just sort of fell into using it as it seemed to fit. 😂
I toured Terlingua, Fort Leaton, and that area back in the 80's, seams to have changed somewhat.
Funny how us Texans love the desert and consider it beautiful.. I love West Texas..
And to think - no mention of Jerry Jeff Walker's VIVA TERLINGUA album. What a loss. Something else... you should be walking around AT NIGHT and see the stars. No flashlight, no nuthin' - in 20minutes, eyes adjust and I can see starlight shadows of pebbles. The Milky Way will be clearly seen, and I never see as many stars as I do in the Southwest. It's also a great bike-riding area at night because of that starlight illumination. We used to avoid moonlit nights, too, because the mooon is simply too bright, too blinding.
Also, I suspect you completely missed Balmorhea (pronounced BAL muh ray). The swimmin' hole-!! (If the Guv hasn't kept screwing over, that is.)
But, viva terlingua was recorded in luckenbach
What a great video! So many gems that Ive never heard of! That cemetery is GORGEOUS! That Fort reminds me of the Hacienda de los Martinez in Taos. They are so cool to visit!
Thank you so much! You're absolutely right - so many gems! Just wish it wasn't so far away as there's so much more to explore. 😅
FANTASTIC & FABULOUS! Thank you for sharing this video.
Our pleasure! 😄
You used a church key to open those cans !!!
Great video! We love abandoned places too!
Danny & Lynn
Aren't they amazing? Thanks for watching! 👍
Really cool to watch this video n look into the past.
I love my Latin Culture ♥️ of Mexican descent. My Dad was from Texas 1910. My Mom from California 1918.
I asked, Daddy did you cross the border 🤔
He said, "Border, what Border we just came went back n forth with laugher." I guess it was a deferential time in America!
Times have certainly changed, that is for sure. Thank you so much for watching. 😊
@@CactusAtlas mbb
Great video of beautiful history!
Many thanks! 😊
Excellent ! Thank you!
You are welcome! 😄👍
"The land of wooden crosses... as far as you can see..."
Absolutely Awesome Video The Cactus Atlas
Thank you so very much! 😊
👌 awesome, we have been to Lajitas Resort 3 yrs. in a row 2 yrs. ago and always end up exploring
Really would love to explore there more. Just wish it was closer to us. 😅
As you leave Shafter towards presidio, about a mile or so, are some deep drop- offs, as you peer down the depths you will see abandoned mines, a deteriorating wooden ladder lying on the ground.
Don't miss elephant rock!!
I'm from West, Tx. Thank u for the compliments. Lots of wonderful history.
Ooh! The west side of Texas or the town? I have many fond memories of stopping for kolaches in the town of West when traveling north on I-35. 😅
@@CactusAtlas I lived in Pecos,Tx most of my life . Yep famous Pecos Rodeo. Lol. I remember going to Balmorhea, Tx, Ft. Davis, etc. Luv it. This girl raised being out in the mesquites. Lol
First time I've seen your channel. Incredibly interesting. I have subscribed. Now for some binge watching
♥️ From Australia
Welcome! And Australia! Wow! Wouldn't mind visiting there one day. 😄
Just found your channel & subbed! Love the historical videos but I'm enjoying them all. :) My sister and I rode (horseback) out to Total Wreck, a ghost town SE of Tucson. If you guys have it on your list, I think you'd enjoy it. Not much left standing but it's a beautiful area with some walls, foundations, mines, and burial cairns. A 4x4 will get you pretty close. Looking forward to more videos. Safe travels!
Haha! Glenn has actually been talking about taking riding lessons lately to go out places! That would be a blast to see. Appreciate the recommendation and welcome to our channel! 😊
Great video.
Thanks for the visit! 😄
I ama history buff and love cemeteries its been many years ago but have visited all of those "ghost towns" you visited . You are doing a good job.thank you
Thanks so very much! 😊
Having been to a lot of places like these ghost towns, or almost ghost towns. There’s one thing that always gets to me. All those falling down houses and businesses were at one time somebody’s dream. Today, many of our dreams will look the same way 100 years from now.
We often think the same things, especially when you look at old photos of towns that once were and now one might only find a concrete foundation or two. These suburbs many live in... what will they look like in 100 years or more? It's strange to ponder but in all likelihood won't look like they do today.
@@CactusAtlas I think I can answer your question about modern suburbs. The average house built by big builders where they go in and build 100’s of houses are junk! Their not much better quality then the RV industry. They look shiny, etc. but it’s all about financing. You can build junk, if you have the right financing for your potential customers. Their selling easy financing and emotions. Most builders models are professionally decorated with the right furniture, pictures, etc. So potential buyers are looking at the overall “appearance” and not the actual house.
On a side note. If your familiar with Bodie, CA. A ghost town in the high Sierra’s. My Great Grandmother is buried there in a copper coffin somewhere. There’s no grave marker. The town is a State Park now. She died of bad heart at 28 in the 1880’s.
Interesting! We don't hear from too many people with family connections to Bodie. We have been there before actually. Love that place. 👍
Very cool brother
Very interesting and well done. You'd be better served by wearing light colored, wide brimmed, straw hat and lighter colored ( white/ khaki) shirts in these areas. Will definitely help keep you cooler in that desert climate.
Thank you! Considering we live in Arizona and regularly see summers above 110 degrees, we're pretty used to the heat. 😅
That looked like a lot of fun.
It was! Highly recommended journey for anyone in that area. 👍
I love Terlingual . There are many entire families buried there . From the flue I am sure , but also the men working in the mines brought the toxins home with them and exposed their families. One of the main reasons the mine closed. That sludge pile is still toxic , don't go wandering around on it.
I now live in North Eastern Montana every little town up here has a jail like the one in Terlingua. Here's one for you imagine a jail like that when it's - 40 in December. A very real deterrent to crime .
Yikes! Too cold! On the opposite end of the spectrum is Yuma Territorial Prison - not a lot of fun in the hot summers. 😵💫
@@CactusAtlas just maybe that's the way to solve our crime problem. 🤔
great vid
Thanks so much!
Really you have done a great work. It is best tribute to men wemen n children who once lived here
Thank you so so much! 😊
Seems the closer one gets to Mexico the fancier the cemeteries get.
Gotta say even for being a scouting vid this is just as good as any other vids you 2 have done. I find it interesting how adobe houses are built in specific ways that the closest to center of building gets coolest
LOL the farther you go the more questions you want to ask.
Looking forward to seeing where or what you wander into next.
Thank you so much. 😊 And the cemeteries are certainly fancy compared to some from modern times. Would love to find some more!
Would looking up older maps help locate towns that are gone now? Like the recent vid of the town that died when the train quit running@@CactusAtlas ?
Not a bad idea!
Cool video
Lajitas , has a great golf Cource . It is a very well hidden treasure.
My family bought land in the terlingua area in 1969 and I have been going there at least once a year on vacation. The first few years going there that wagon by the mine shaft was still in one piece and usable looking. The Trading post was a empty run down building along with what is now the starlight theater.
Very cool! It must be interesting to watch things change (both for the good and bad).
Awesome!👍😎🇨🇦
Thanks! 😊👍
Wow, definitely a place to return to! As you said each place deserves its own video. So I'd say you're in Texas Longhorn country and that would be your team to pull that wagon. You could haul a lot of hay in that thing.
The list of places we want to go back to with more info is growing quite long. 😅
That cart is a prop used by the Pythons in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the "Bring out your dead" sketch.
A good while back 7 of us rode fm Hou. to Big Bend area. Been out there and seen all the things in the video. Really enjoyed the sites and exploring the area. And watched the sun set behind the " The Mules Ears " rock formation.We camped in the parking lot of the "La kefa" Not sure of the spelling?? Great place to visit. 🇺🇸😎
Very cool! We really need to get back to that area and explore more. 😊
The huge wooden wagon (20:56) was called a carreta. We learned about them being used in the CA Missions and ranchos from over 200 years ago. I don't remember how large those were from the Missions, but the Spanish and Mexican cartwrights built them to order.
those carretas were pulled by two oxen, not a twenty mule team
They were pulled by oxen.
I grew up 1st to 6th grades in Royalty, a little farther north. Less than 50 people there in 1960. It is now a ghost town as well. I went there in Jan 2022.
Whoa. VERY small! Are there any remaining buildings of the town left?
I visited there in the 70’s and they was selling land and we ate fried snake. It was good amazingly.
Thanx Cactas Atlas.😎💥👋
Any time, friend! 😄
New subscriber; just happened upon this video; looking forward to viewing others. 🤠
Thank you for visiting and happy to have you with us on our adventures. 😊
Good quick overview. You could easily have spent a day or more at Terlingua. Also, you missed the cemetery at Shafter.
Family, dad, grandparents came from there- est the Molinar school close to store- married, lived for years before moving to Alpine - wedding pic w/home behind them❤
That's awesome! 😄
Thank you from France ❤️🇫🇷 my father's family still live in USA 🇺🇸🤗❤️
You’re welcome 😊
Check out Terlingua Mustangs & the tie-in to Carroll Shelby and his chili...
Another awesome cemetery! I’m originally from Texas. ❤️😁❤️
Awesome! I (Amy) spent a great number of years living in Austin but never made it out to the western side of the state. I missed out apparently!
Thank you so much for checking out our videos. 😄
@@CactusAtlas I lived in a tiny little town called Davilla. It was pretty close to Austin. We lived in Chandler Arizona for many years before moving to St David.
Neat to see the ghost towns 🤠 watch out for the wasps 🤪 and bats 🦇
No bats sadly. Probably snoozing away the day all tucked away in there. 😅
Hay! That door was low because the floor would have been dug out to create a sef cooling building. Its an ancient building technique used to creat houseing that imitated a cave. Creating a space that self cools in the summer and self heating in the winter. ❤
Cool! Thanks for the info! 👍
thanks
You're welcome!
Hay wagon. Pulled by Oxen
That was the conclusion we came to as well. Thanks for the confirmation! 😄👍
@@CactusAtlas Your very welcome. I lived in Del Rio for 10 years. Kayaked and rafted the Rio Grand through there. Been to those places.
Malcom McRoberts, raft guide, Ill never forget him. Seen the rock slide and the serinity. Glass water flowing slow, 15' wide of river, both sides rock walls 1,500' up when they are at the same level. You find nature. She talks to you there. At that moment, calm water and walls forever up, you feel her holding you...
And the class 3 and 4 rapids! Ha! You see nature smiling at you wondering if you can handle it...
Thats where to go to know mother nature in Texas. But you gotta have gear there, or she will have you.
Watch for Rattlers and Scorpions, take water, and youll do well.
Good place to feel the late 1800's and early 1900's. Its still there.
Its unforgiving if your not prepared. Dont let the Ravens or Racoons take your food, they work together! Lol!
Whatever you do or dont do, you gotta dip your head in the water! Be Texas Blessed and it will change you... Merica🇺🇸
@@CactusAtlas I believe the proper name is a "Taos Cart" and they were used all over the southwest to transport any and all kinds of trade goods all over the southwest and in and out of the major trade center of Taos New Mexico. They were indeed pulled by oxen with the ox drover walking alongside. Armed guards would also accompany the trains of carts and people coming in and out of the region would also tag along. Safety in numbers and all that. HTH.
If you go back, take the river road from lajitas to presidio and stop at the contrabando movie site, although most of it torn down
We actually did go there but in a different video. So very picturesque! It is easy to see why the location was chosen. 👍
Lol Red Dead Revolver
The old truck at 1:48 is gone. At least I didn't see it and in your video, it 's in plain view.
Oh, gosh. It's creeping up on 2 years since we were out there so I imagine a few things may have been moved around a bit. Shame though. Love the look of old rusted out vehicles lingering about.
Looks like a good place to shoot a western. 🎥
You didn’t drink a beer with the mayor of Lalitas? That’s something everyone should do when they go to lajitas 😊
There is a scene in the movie the lost boys that was filmed at the bottom of the mine pit. About 20 years, the caretaker took me down there
Adobe is the best building substance for that climate
Looked like some type of stove 😅
The cemetery reminds me of a Clint Eastwood movie
We thought the same too! It really has a feel like it emerged from an old western, doesn't it?
I've learned that my husband's very distant Molinar relatives were from Terlingua.
364 Recorded graves in the Terlingua Cemetery on Find A Grave.
Not long gone but improving else where they just moved on but the memory still here
Been there Seen that. Watch the Mercury. Dont breathe the dust.
It seems Ben Leaton’s tenure began with a bold and illegal land grab. Great video and thanks for the upload.
Thank you! 😊
@@CactusAtlas Actually, Ben Leaton, my great-great- great on my grandfather, on my mother's side, bought the land of an abandoned from the abandoned Spanish mission built in 1683 and the land from there to the river. He bought that land from my great- great great grandfather on my father's side. Later he did steal land from Indians and Mexicans in the adjacent areas.
That thing is an oxcart. Shafter was also in the Spanish American War.
Watching your videos are very interesting and did subscribed... looking forward to more videos
Awesome, thank you! Welcome aboard and we look forward to sharing more videos with you every Thursday! 😄
Correction, some of the newer tombstones in terlingua are easy to read. People are still being buried there, as of 10 years ago when i was there last
I am interested in a town that USED to be. Not sure if any remnants of it remain now or not. Was named GunSight, there un Texas. Was Where my Grandfather was born (1880's)
That's always the hard thing about old towns. Often times there's not a lot remaining unless one knows where to look. 😞
I live 30 miles east of Gunsight in the neighboring Palo Pinto county. There is a Texas historical marker and a very cool cemetery in Gunsight, but not much else.
Caroll Shelby had a place bear Terlingua.
In Shafter you need to drive down towards the creek. Really clean water I used to stop there with my dad to cool off. Water tasted like RO water
Interesting! If we're ever back in that area, we'll have to take a peek! Thanks! 😄👍
Lots of people went mad who worked the cinnabar mines as they were exposed to all that mercury. They even built their houses out of the rocks ,or overburden, which were loaded with mercury ,so you worked in it and then lived and slept in it.
Oh, man. That is a lot of exposure to think about when you're talking about houses being built out of the rock. Yikes.
I've been to Terlingua. The only thing there besides the graves is a hotel and a bar. The was a show called Bad Lands a few years back. There was a murder of the bar owner. I went with my ex-prostitute..... I mean wife. It was pretty cool to see it if you have never seen anyplace like that before.
It's a small town, sure, but fun to imagine what once was. 😄
Put her to work there 😮
Very interesting !!
Thank you! 😄
I'll give you a hint a fence in Texas usually means private property and keep your ass off of it!
Not just a Texas thing. 😉
The large 'trailer' was probably pulled by a large bull or water buffalo type of animal. Most buildings were made from mud and hay they had to form bricks.
Awesome video just subscribed. Where can I buy a hat like that it's awesome.
Thanks! Got the hat on Amazon (wish I had the link! I'll see if Glenn still has it in his order history in a bit) but actually recently saw it in store at REI as well. 😅
@@CactusAtlas awesome thank you for letting me know
@@CactusAtlas I’d like to know where you got the scarf - I want one! 😀 Love the channel; great information made interesting and relatable.
Amazon as well. There's a whole number of them in different colors. Just look up shemagh. 👍
@Cactus Atlas thank you again! That scarf is awesome 🙏
Am from Lubbock Texas
I have a mom that lives out in Cayanosa, they have a population of maybe a 100 or so... I live further to the East in the city in Odessa. On the way to her house, or El Paso, the scenery really opens up and I realize how beautiful West Texas is! Odessa is just a flat dusty hellhole... 😂😂😂
West Texas really reminds us a lot of the desert landscape out here. Really beautiful. 😊
Keep an eye out for Judge Holden!
😯
Shafters church at night is scary
We can only imagine! 😨
Have you done Cove Fort or the Fillmore Statehouse in Utah? I think you’d like them.
We have not yet, no. Utah and other states tend to require longer outings than just a weekend and we haven't yet made it to that region of Utah yet. Close but not as north as where they are located. We'll definitely keep them in mind the next time we're planning a trip to that portion of Utah though. Looks interesting! Thanks so much for the suggestions! 😊👍
Unfortunately Texas doesn’t have the federal lands like New Mexico Arizona Nevada and California have. Most of it is private property that not many property owners will allow one to explore. I’ve been to Lajitas and tarlingua once long time ago. I live in west Texas but not in that area. Great videos. I’m newly subbed.
Thank you so very much and welcome to our channel! 😊
I'd rather citizens own it 😁
Terlingua is the correct spelling. We have STATE lands that are leased to our citizens, unlike New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Cailfornia we were a independent republic country when we joined the USA. One of the many stipulations was that the state retained all unused lands unclaimed lands.
People were probably short back then 😅
Private land. Same as in Oklahoma where I live. There is virtually no protection of historical sights on private land. And you don’t get to see them.
True.
Beware of snakes out there
Oh we're no stranger to snakes. Here in Arizona we see Western Diamondbacks frequently - usually on the road 😅 but they're everywhere. In fact, we just saw our first rattler in the wild on our most recent video!
👍
😎👍
Ben Leaton was my great-great-great- grandfather on my mother's side. Fort Leaton was never a military fort, it was a trading post built like a fort to protect from Indian raids. But Leaton traded extensively with the Indians, trading guns and ammo and whiskey in turn for stolen Mexican lives stock the Indians had taken from the Mexicans
Very cool connection to the place! Thanks for sharing that. 😊
FYI: Fences around old mines are to keep you from falling down shafts.