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    Marfa
    Marfa
    Marfa
    Ebook184 pages48 minutes

    Marfa

    By Louise S. O'Connor and Cecilia Thompson Ph.D.

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    About this ebook

    In the rugged High Chihuahua Desert of West Texas, Marfa lies in the northeast corner of Presidio County, 60 miles from the Mexico border. Originally established as a water stop for the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad in 1883, it soon became the county seat and heart of a thriving commercial center built around ranching. Marfa s Fort D. A. Russell, first known as Camp Albert and later Camp Marfa, has been home to numerous military units from the early 1900s through the end of World War II. This military presence, combined with the development of the famous Highland Hereford that propelled local cattle ranching to a nationally recognized level, provided the economic and social base for the community well into the 1950s. Marfa s proximity to Mexico contributes tremendously to a remarkable blend of cultures, and today the once remote frontier town has established itself as a sophisticated arts and cultural mecca.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJan 12, 2009
    ISBN9781439636428
    Marfa
    Author

    Louise S. O'Connor

    Historians Cecilia Thompson and Louise S. O�Connor trace Marfa�s colorful history from its founding through its current, unique status as a world-renowned art community. The authors have used images generously loaned by private families, the Marfa and Presidio County Museum, and Marfa Public Library archives, among others.

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    • 4/5
      If you're going, get it. This is a brief history of a very odd little town, centered around historic photographs of the place. It is part of the excellent "Images of America" series. Marfa is, of course, the home of Big Art -- Donald Judd's Chinati foundation -- at that is why most people go there nowadays. Otherwise, it has two current claims to fame. It is the place where "Giant" was filmed, and it is literally in the middle of nowhere. But it does have an interesting past, which this book will explain to you.

    Book preview

    Marfa - Louise S. O'Connor

    Texas.

    INTRODUCTION

    The entire Chihuahuan Desert, which includes what is now Presidio County, was called el desplobado, the uninhabited, by the Spanish entradas. The region, a mountainous desert area, became a mecca for cattlemen in search of free range in the mid-19th century.

    The construction of the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad, which crossed the area now known as the Marfa Plateau, resulted in the establishment of a water stop called Marfa in 1883. Legend has it that the town was named by an engineer’s wife who was traveling with him during the construction of the railroad to the Trans-Pecos area of Texas. It seems she was reading The Brothers Karamazov, by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and named the fledgling town after a character in the book. As she passed through the small towns dotting the rail lines, she named many of them based on literary references. Longfellow and Dryden are two other examples. As for Marfa, what began as a boxcar depot developed into a busy shipping point for cattle, cotton, and ore. Because of its location and early commercial successes, Marfa became a center of activity for the ranching community, whose members contributed to a thriving social and cultural situation.

    Before the area was settled by Americans, Apache tribes had run rampant throughout the region. Fort Davis was originally established in 1854, with a brief hiatus during the Civil War, to protect westward-bound travelers. The fort reopened in 1867, manned by Buffalo Soldiers, but was finally deactivated in 1891. There were no armed forces in the area from that point until the Mexican Revolution erupted in 1910, at which time military outposts were established along the Rio Grande.

    These border outposts were served by what began as Camp Albert, later named Camp Marfa, located in Marfa. The military installation was designated as a permanent base and renamed Fort D. A. Russell in 1930. Once the active border upheavals were subdued, the U.S. Border Patrol became a major factor in controlling immigration and smuggling. The Border Patrol was first assigned to Marfa, where the sector headquarters are presently located, in 1924.

    The early 1920s brought commercial, social, and cultural development. The prize-winning Highland Hereford was brought to prominence by the Highland Hereford Breeder’s Association. The community’s growing prosperity was indicated by the construction of a number of homes that are now points of historic interest. Schools, churches, and entertainment flourished within the little cow town.

    With the outbreak of World War II, Marfa again became the center of military activity, not only because of the presence of Fort D. A. Russell, but also because of the establishment of the Marfa Army Air Field, located 10 miles east of town. Wartime activity brought a growing population, as well as additions to the commercial area along Highland Avenue. Throughout World War II, Marfa, like many small communities affected by the military, grew and prospered.

    At the close of World War II, both Fort D. A. Russell and the Marfa Army Air Field were abandoned. Marfa was beset by a sudden loss of population and financial support. In addition, the 1950s brought a devastating drought and recession to the area. Consequently, the ranching industry suffered losses from which it has never fully recovered.

    Nevertheless, Marfa’s most abundant and enduring natural resources, the land and the sky, are responsible for a unique array of activities that have had economic repercussions for the town. Discovery of the landscape surrounding Marfa by movie impresarios brought unexpected and dramatic recognition of the area by the film industry. George Stevens’s production of Giant opened the region up to numerous other film projects, including Andromeda Strain, Fandango, The High Lonesome, and more recently, No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. The mysterious Marfa Lights are recognized worldwide as a natural phenomenon attracting hundreds of scientists, tourists, and the curious each year. The area was selected as the site for an international soaring competition in 1970 due to the unique thermal conditions in the western sky. The thermals continue to attract soaring enthusiasts to the region.

    The world-renowned artist Donald Judd also discovered the beauty of the area in the 1970s. The Dia Art Foundation of Houston subsequently provided housing for his work at the former Fort D. A. Russell, now the Chinati Foundation. Attracted by the congenial atmosphere created by the Chinati Foundation, artists began to establish homes, studios, and galleries in Marfa in the 1990s. At the present time, the little town is recognized internationally as a cutting-edge art community.

    One

    SETTLING THE FRONTIER 1857–1900

    Milton Faver established his headquarters, El Fortin del Cibolo, south of present-day Marfa in 1857. At this time, Mexican immigrants who lived along the Rio Grande and the Buffalo Soldiers who protected the settlers from Native American depredations at Fort Davis were the principal inhabitants of this desert region. The economic potential of the area began to be recognized by Americans after the Civil War.

    The cattle brought in by the early settlers consisted of a hardy but scruffy breed that in time became inadequate to the standards of the burgeoning beef cattle industry. The early West Texas ranchers first brought in the Durham Shorthorn and then began crossbreeding the Durham Shorthorn and the purebred English Hereford. This breeding produced the famous Highland Hereford, a breed of cattle that thrived on the High Chihuahuan Desert.

    Early on, sending and receiving supplies was a great problem for people living in the West. Eventually, the north-south route widened along the Chihuahua Trail. This road was based on a Native American trail of earlier years. The arrival of the

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