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Stretching across the horizon as a range of flat topped mountains is the Cap Rock Escarpment, eastern boundary of the vast Llano Estacado or "Staked Plains." The Llano, one of the world's most perfect plains regions, is an elongated oval extending from north to south. Some three quarters of it, 20 million acres, are in Texas. The remainder is in eastern New Mexico. Its naturally treeless surface, unbroken except for several canyons, slopes gradually from an altitude of 2,700 feet at its eastern edge to more than 4,000 feet along the New Mexico border. The Cap Rock Escarpment is the result of surface erosion that began in the early pleistocene period some 750,000 years ago. Composed of tough caliche, the Cap Rock has protected the softer materials underlying it, thus resisting the erosive factors with varying success. The escarpment begins in Borden County 25 miles south of this point and extends northward in a sweeping arc 170 miles into the Texas Panhandle. It rises from 300 feet to 1,000 feet above the lower plains at its base, giving the impression of having been thrust upward out of the surrounding land. First white man to visit the Great Plains was the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Coronado who crossed them in 1541 on his search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola. He was especially impressed by the sea of grass which covered the soil so completely that the tracks of his expedition left no permanent mark. The Spaniards, it is said, staked their route so they would be guided on the return-trip-- hence the term "staked" plains. Because of the scarcity of surface water, the Llano was generally shunned by buffalo and Indians until the encroachment of settlers in the lower areas drove them onto it. The native grasses supported an immense ranching empire following the extinction of the buffalo. More recently the Llano has become one of the nation's leading cotton, wheat and grain sorghum producing areas. |
