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Sheep herders from communities along the Pecos River in New Mexico, known as the pastores, used La Vista de Vida Agua, or the Trail of Living Water, to bring their large flocks into the grasslands of the western Llano Estacado and to Bailey County. Pastores arrived as family-based sheep operations along the Canadian River from the 1840s to the 1890s.
Locating water helped them expand their flocks, just as ciboleros, or bison hunters, and Comancheros, or traders, used specific water locations to expand their business ventures with Native Americans of the region. The pastores used the Comancheros' routes into the southern plains based on information passed down through family or community ties. Pastores coming from northern New Mexico used the Upper Pecos River to travel into the Canadian River valley, while southern New Mexico pastores followed the Trail of Living Water to eastern New Mexico and west Texas.
One of the large-scale pastores, Jesus Perea, moved thousands of sheep south from the Canadian River, crossing the Red, Brazos and Colorado rivers, to the lakes of Lynn County. Over the years, stacked caliche rocks forming corrals were found in Bailey County, as well as boxed-in springs which helped manage the sheep. Nearby Yellow House Draw, a branch of the Brazos River, expands into a broad canyon north of the Muleshoe Wildlife Refuge where remnants of a rock shelter remain, similar to other pastores rock shelters found along the Canadian River. Caves along the bluffs also provided shelter for the shepherds. The sheep industry in Bailey County continued until the 1930s, largely due to the pastores' influence and contributions. (2019)
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