History
The Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail Marcy Route, 1849
Clearly visible to the northeast and southwest are ruts of the Old Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail, the overland route connecting river ports of Fort Smith and Van Buren, Arkansas with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Route gained national fame when Col. R.B. Marcy, U.S.
Architecture
The H. B. Sanborn House
Built 1902 in 500 block, South Buchanan, by principal early developer of Amarillo, Henry Bradley Sanborn (1845-1912). At original site were also owner's office building, carriage house, stables for six coach horses, and a deer park. After death of Sanborn, the home was relocated here in 1921. Losses from the original include brick chimneys and cupola with weathervane.
History
The United States Topographical Engineers in the High Plains of Texas
This region and much of western America was mapped under adversity, as territory held by hostile Indians. With the dual aims of compiling scientific data and opening the way for settlers, U.S. Army topographers covered ground earlier traversed by conquistadors and mountain men. Earlier travelers mentioned their experiences. The topographers mapped the terrain.
Nature
Wild Horse Lake
At various times this playa lake served as a reliable water source for buffalo, wild horses, nomadic native americans, explorers, cattle drivers, traders, and pioneers traversing the high plains. The lake area, also called Amarillo Lake, became the original townsite of Amarillo in 1887. Frequent flooding caused the town's relocation to higher ground one mile east of here by 1890.
History
William Henry Bush
(1849 - 1931) The Frying Pan Ranch was founded in 1881 by Amarillo pioneer Henry Sanborn and J.F. Glidden, the inventor of barbed wire. The partnership was dissolved in 1894. Glidden sold the ranch to his son-in-law, W.H. Bush, who later endowed the free library and park in his birthplace, Martinsburg, New York. Bush was a patron of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Amarillo Public Library.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
