Terlingua, Texas

Terlingua, Texas - a panoramic view from TX Park Road 170

Terlingua, Texas - another panoramic view

Terlingua in 1936

Terlingua (Ghost Town) is a mining district in southwestern Brewster County, Texas, United States. It is located near the Rio Grande and the Texas villages of Lajitas and Study Butte, Texas,as well as the Mexican village of Santa Elena. The discovery of cinnabar, from which the metal mercury is extracted, in the mid-1880s brought miners to the area, creating a city of 2,000 people. The only remnants of the mining days are a ghost town of the Howard Perry-owned Chisos Mining Company and several nearby capped and abandoned mines, most notably the California Hill, the Rainbow, the 248 and the Study Butte mines. The mineral terlinguaite was first found in the vicinity of California Hill.

History

According to the historian Kenneth Baxter Ragsdale, "Facts concerning the discovery of cinnabar in the Terlingua area are so shrouded in legend and fabrication that it is impossible to cite the date and location of the first quicksilver recovery." The cinnabar was apparently known to Native Americans, who prized its brilliant red color for body pigment. Various Mexican and American prospectors reportedly found cinnabar at Terlingua in the 1880s, but the remoteness and hostile Indians deterred mining.

A man named Jack Dawson reportedly produced the first mercury from Terlingua in 1888, but the district got off to a slow start. It was not until the mid-1890s that the Terlingua finds began to be publicized in newspapers and mining industry magazines. By 1900, there were four mining companies operating at Terlingua.

Events

Due to its proximity to Big Bend National Park, today Terlingua is mostly a tourist destination. Rafting on the Rio Grande, mountain biking, camping, hiking, and motorcycling are some of the outdoor activities favored by tourists.

Desert Sports sponsors the annual Mas o Menos 100 mountain bike race during Presidents Day weekend each February. The race started as the Chihuahuan Desert Challenge that was first held in the mid 1980's on the Rio Grande. The event lasts 4 days. Although offering a serious challenge for experienced riders, there are events for riders of all skill levels, both competitive and non-competitive. With changing land ownership and sponsorship the Desert Challenge evolved into the Mas o Menos 100 which culminates in the feature event: a 100 km mountain bike race through very rough country.

On the first Saturday of November, over 10,000 "chiliheads" convene in Terlingua for two annual chili cookoffs: the Chili Appreciation Society International and the Frank X. Tolbert / Wick Fowler World Chili Championships. In the late 1970s the Chili Cook-Off sponsored a “Mexican Fence-Climbing Contest” to spoof the U.S. Government’s planned reinforcement of the chain-link fence separating El Paso, Tex. from Cd. Juárez, Mexico and San Ysidro, Cailf. From Tijuana, Mexico. The fence the “chili heads” used was constructed by undocumented Mexican workers who labored annually for the Cook-Off organizers at five dollars a day plus meals and rustic lodging. Among the founders of the first chili cookoff in 1967 was car manufacturer Carroll Shelby, who owned a 220,000-acre (890 km²) ranch nearby.

Education

Teringua is served by the Terlingua Common School, which serves Terlingua Elementary and Big Bend High.

In popular culture

In the 1984 film Paris, Texas, Terlingua is the location that Walt travels to after he learns that his long lost brother Travis has turned up there. In the 2007 film Shooter, Terlingua is mentioned by a firearms expert (Levon Helm) as a place to bury dead bodies.

External links

• Terlingua, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Terlingua, Texas
• Terlingua Homecoming Documentary
• West Texas Weekly, a local weekly newspaper.