Llano Estecado = Staked Plains. I've heard of the old time cowhands telling of camping there, driving the herd all the next day and being able to see where they camped the night before when they stopped for the day. That's a big big country down thar.
It's nice to have some elbow and breathin' room. You fellers keep it that way ya hear..
You can see in the picture up in the corner that we still got some space here in Wyoming and we aim to keep it that way.
I hear ya, Iggy! The story is about the name "Staked Plains" (which you probably already know) is that back when the Indians and the buffalo were about the only occupants here, the tallest thing to be seen in this flat country were the stalks left standing after the blossoms and seed pods of the yucca (bear grass) plants had fallen off. They look kind of like a piece of rebar about 3/4" inch in diameter standing upright above the center of the plant, and in those days, they were about the only thing seen standing any taller than the grass. They also say that the grass was belly deep to a buffalo when it rained. There is what we call a "caprock" that defines the Llano Estacado all around it's circumference. In some places, it's not much to see, and in others, it is a spectacular sight with significant elevation change upward from the surrounding countryside. And speaking of elevation, this huge flat piece of geography (about maybe 150 miles wide or so and maybe 250 miles from top to bottom ... just a quick guess on my part here) ranges in elevation between four and five thousand feet above sea level. There are a few spectacular deep canyon drainages where what we call rivers here pass through, and a full relatively shallow drainages elsewhere on the plain. But it must rain a lot before you find out where the places are where the water will collect and flow from the higher areas to the lower. There are also some large playa lake beds (alkali in soil composition) that hold water on occasion. They are large in surface area but very shallow in depth and the water they hold is not fit for man nor beast to drink and almost no plant life grows in or around them. Very interesting topography!
When the settlers came, they planted a few trees, hackberrys and other such trees. The ones that could tolerate the droughty climate remain, and where you see a few trees today with no kind of sign of human habitation, they mark the spot where somebody homesteaded and starved out and moved along, usually selling their homestead to one of the ranches that surrounded them. The mesquite were transplanted by the south Texas cattle that Mr Goodnight and Mr. Loving brought across the country toward the Pecos river (with considerable difficulty, I might add since drinkable water was not found in but a very few places). Those cattle were used to eating mesquite beans and graciously planted them along the trail. And since the mesquite thrives well in the climate here, the seeds sprouted and reproduced after their own kind. But here on the high plains, they only get to bush size, as opposed to the more tree like plants found off the caprock and south toward the Rio Grande in Texas.
Lots of very interesting things here, not the least of which were the very hardy souls who came and stayed and survived in a very huge area where survival was not possible unless you were tough as an old dried up Indian moccasin! It is still a pretty unforgiving country, and the folks who farm and ranch in West Texas are still pretty hardy souls. I'm pretty certain that there are many there in Wyoming who are cut from the same piece of cloth!
I gotta quit now. I done used up way more than my share of bandwidth here!!
