END OF THE ROAD
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO
CANDELARIA, TEXAS? WELL I HAVE. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT IT.
BACK IN 1978 JOHNNIE
WORKED FOR DAN DIPERT TOUR AGENCY HERE IN ARLINGTON, TEXAS. SHE WAS
A TOUR ESCORT. THAT MEANT SHE CRAWLED ON A BUS WITH 40 OR SO PEOPLE
AND WENT WHERE EVER. SOME TIMES SHE WOULD BE GONE FOR A WEEK AND
SOMETIMES SHE WOULD BE GONE FOR TWO WEEKS. ONE OF HER TOURS EVEN
KEPT HER AWAY FOR THREE WEEKS.
WELL WHEN SHE WOULD BE
GONE ON ONE OF THESE TOURS, I WOULD CLIMB IN MY PICKUP WITH THE
CAMPER ON IT AND I WOULD TAKE A TOUR OF MY OWN. I MOSTLY STAYED IN
TEXAS BUT THAT COVERS A LOT OF GROUND. IT IS 900 MILES FROM
TEXARKANA ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE STATE TO EL PASO ON THE WESTERN
SIDE. IT IS 1000 MILES FROM THE TOP OF THE PANHANDLE TO BROWNSVILLE
ON THE SOUTH END OF THE STATE AT THE MEXICAN BORDER.
JOHNNIE WAS GONE FOR TWO
WEEKS ONE TIME SO I HAD TWO WEEKS TO WONDER AROUND THE STATE. I
DECIDED I WOULD GO TO THE "BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK" OUT IN WEST
TEXAS. I LEFT EARLY ONE MORNING AND DROVE DOWN THROUGH SAN ANTONIO
(THAT'S WHERE THE ALAMO IS) AND ON TO UVALDE. (THAT'S WHERE CACTUS
JACK, AKA, JOHN NANCE GARNER LIVED. GARNER WAS THE 32nd VICE
PRESIDENT OF THE U. S. A.)
FROM UVALDE I WENT WEST
ON HIGHWAY 90 THROUGH BRACKETTVILLE. (THAT'S WHERE JOHN WAYNE MADE
THE MOVIE "ALAMO")
THEN TO DEL RIO ON THE
REO GRANDE RIVER ACROSS FORM CIUDAD ACUNA, MEXICO. FROM THERE I
WENT WEST ON HIGHWAY 90 THROUGH LANGTRY (THAT'S WHERE JUDGE ROY BEAN
WAS KNOWN AS LAW WEST OF THE PECOS RIVER IN 1884) AND ON TO
MARATHON. THIS TOOK ME THREE DAYS.
FROM MARATHON I TOOK
HIGHWAY 395 INTO "BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK." BIG BIND NATIONAL PARK
IS ( LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE IN TEXAS ) A BIG PARK. I SPENT TWO DAYS
WONDERING AROUND IN THE PARK. THEN I LEFT OUT THE WEST SIDE ON OLD
HIGHWAY 170.
HIGHWAY 170 IS CALLED
THE RIVER ROAD. BUT THAT’S A WHOLE NOTHER STORY FOR A DIFFERENT
TIME.
HIGHWAY 170 RUNS ALONG
THE SIDE OF THE RIO GRANGE RIVER ALL THE WAY TO PRESIDIO. PRESIDIO
IS A PORT OF ENTRÉE FROM MEXICO. BUT HIGHWAY 170 DOESN'T STOP
THERE. IT CONTINUES WEST ALONG THE RIVER TO RUIDOSA. GRANTED IN
1978 WHEN I TRAVELED IT, IT WAS ONLY A GRAVEL ROAD FROM PRESIDIO TO
RUIDOSA, IT WAS STILL DESIGNATED HIGHWAY 170.
THE FIRST RECORDED
SETTLEMENT AT THE SITE OF RUIDOSA WAS A PENAL COLONY CALLED VADO
PIEDRA. THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED IT ABOUT 1824. A GROUP
OF CONVICTS, CALLED THE CONDEMNED REGIMENT, WAS SENT TO THE AREA TO
GUARD CATTLE AND HORSES IN NORTHERN CHIHUAHUA AGAINST RAIDS BY
INDIANS. THE COMANCHES MASSACRED THE REGIMENT AND THE PENAL COLONY
WAS ABANDONED.
A SMALL FARMING
COMMUNITY BEGAN AT RUIDOSA ABOUT 1872 WHEN WILLIAM RUSSELL
CONSTRUCTED IRRIGATION DITCHES TO BRING WATER TO HIS LARGE FARM. HE
ALSO BUILT A TOLL MILL THAT PROVIDED FLOUR TO THE SURROUNDING
COMMUNITIES FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS.
WHEN I LEFT PRESIDIO I
CONTINUED ON WEST ON THIS GRAVEL ROAD. 36 MILES LATER I CAME TO
RUIDOSA. BUT BY 1978 ALL THERE WAS THERE, WAS A SMALL CATHOLIC
CHURCH, A FEW ADOBE HOMES AND ONE SMALL STORE. THE STORE WAS ABOUT
12 FEET BY 14 FEET AND JUST HAD A FEW STAPLES. IT WAS IN AN OLD RUN
DOWN WOODEN BUILDING. I STOPPED AT THE STORE AND GOT ME A 7 UP AND
A MILKY WAY BAR. I TRIED TO TALK TO THE LADY IN THE STORE BUT SHE
DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH AND I DIDN'T SPEAK SPANISH.
I WENT OUT ON THE FRONT
PORCH OF THE STORE AND SAT DOWN ON A WOODEN BENCH TO DRINK MY 7 UP
AND EAT MY MILKY WAY BAR. AS I WAS SITTING THERE AN ELDERLY MEXICAN
MAN WALKED UP AND WENT INTO THE STORE. WHEN HE CAME BACK OUT HE HAD
AN ENVELOPE IN HIS HAND. HE SAT DOWN NEXT TO ME ON THE BENCH AND
OPENED HIS ENVELOPE. IT WAS A SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK.
I SAID GOOD MORNING TO
HIM AND HE SAID "HOLA." HUH HO, HERE WE GO AGAIN. I TRIED TO TALK
TO HIM BUT HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS I HAD WITH THE LADY.
IN MY JUNIOR YEAR OF
HIGH SCHOOL WE WERE REQUIRED TO TAKE A SEMESTER OF A FOREIGN
LANGUADE. WE HAD THE CHOICE OF SPANISH, FRENCH OR LATIN. FOR SOME
CRAZY REASON I TOOK LATIN. I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN SPANISH. BUT THEN I
DON'T KNOW IF IT WOULD HAVE HELPED ME NOW. THAT WAS ALMOST 30 YEARS
AGO. BESIDES THAT I MADE AN "F" IN LATIN AND WOULD HAVE PROBABLY
MADE THE SAME IN SPANISH.
I GOT BACK IN MY PICKUP
AND STARTED ON DOWN THE ROAD, WHICH BY THIS TIME HAD BECOME A DIRT
ROAD. AFTER ANOTHER 12 MILES OF SANDY, ROUGH, UNMAINTAINED ROAD I
CAME TO THE LITTLE VILLAGE OF CANDELARIA.
CANDELARIA ALSO HAD A
SMALL CATHOLIC CHURCH AND A FEW ADOBE HOUSES. BUT I COULDN'T SEE
ANY KIND OF STORE. IN FACT I COULDN'T SEE ANY PEOPLE. IT WAS LIKE
CANDELARIA WAS A GHOST TOWN. AND GUESS WHAT. THE ROAD ENDED
THERE. SO I CAN SAY I'VE BEEN TO THE END OF THE ROAD. HIGHWAY 170,
THAT IS. IT ALSO LOOKED LIKE IT WAS AT THE END OF THE WORLD.
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