Concho Valley Archeological
Society
Concho Valley Archeological
Society Newsletter
January 2011
Karla Clark did
a wonderful job
on the meal
socializing
hors d’oeuvres
Ice House Band
CVAS’ Jack Pool works for his dinner
Silent auction
ext Project: Camp Joseph E. Johnston
Tom Ashmore
Hugh Edmondson, of Mule Creek Farm outside of Carlsbad, is helping CVAS by connecting us with ranchers in Water
Valley for my search of Camp Johnston. As with many of my recent projects, although the general history of Camp
Johnston is fairly well known, the exact location was never pinpointed . The one official piece of information that lists a
latitude/longitude must have been in error because it is nowhere near the North Concho River, which is the documented
location in the same records. The best record we have on Camp Johnston comes from the Statistical Report on the
Sickness and Mortality in the Army of the United States, from January 1839 to January 1855, produced in 1856 by the
Army Surgeon General’s Office. The camp is listed as 31 degrees 30 minutes North by 100 degrees 51 minutes West
and sits at 2100 feet above seal level. This locates it to within a box of one by one minute, which equates to 1 by 1
nautical mile. Unfortunately, the center point of this location puts us on a creek that is a tributary of the Middle Concho
River instead of the North Concho River and is 13 -14 miles from the North Concho River and sits at 2200 feet above
seal level.
And so the puzzle begins. In the same records it lists the location of the camp as 110 miles NW of Fort Mason, 70 miles
north from “Camp McKavett.” Using a map distance tool and the generally known trail routes from Mason and
McKavett to the Water Valley area we get a distance of 110 miles from Mason and 71 miles from McKavett.
Distance Mason to Water Valley 110 miles
Distance McKavett to Water Valley 71 miles
In the same document it states that the “camp is
situated on the south side of the North Concho”
and the river “unites with the Main Concho, a
tributary of the Colorado, 18 miles below the
camp.” The Middle Concho was called the
Main Concho at the time. A measurement from
the same location of Water Valley to the
location it describes is 18.39 miles.
Interestingly, the location at Water Valley sits
exactly at 2100 feet above sea level as reported
in the document.
Continued on page 3
Distance to Middle Concho 18.39 miles
ext Project: Camp Joseph E. Johnston
(continued from Page 2)
The reason Camp Johnston was on the North Concho is that it was along the trail made by Joseph E. Johnston who was
the first to survey the area on his exploration in 1850. The road that he made during his exploration went from what was
later to become Fort Chadbourne southwest to the North Concho River and then on down to the Middle Concho and out
to the Pecos River. As I reported in the March 2010 newsletter, the original road used by the Butterfield Overland Mail
was the military road from Fort Chadbourne to the Colorado River. This was the road blazed by Joseph E. Johnston.
After crossing the Colorado River at Buffalo Creek the Butterfield made its own trail heading south while the military
road headed west over the hills. I was able to follow this trail as it made its way over the hills and down to what is now
Water Valley. According to the Army Meteorological Register for Twelve Years, from 1843 to 1854, compiled by the
Medical Department of the Army, Camp Johnston is supposed to be 40 miles from Fort Chadbourne. A detailed tracing
of the trail via Google Earth indicates it is 42 miles.
So now we have a location
that appears to fit with
many of the first hand
descriptions. A search of
Google Earth shows the
trail goes across the North
Conch to the southern side,
up a slight grade and stops
near the base of McLaughlin Mountain. The trail
leads to an area that is on a
slight rise between a creek
and a drainage, making it a
good possible location for a
bivouac. It also has what
may be a location of a
former building. It was
reported that only one
building was ever
constructed for this camp.
Trail from Buffalo Creek/Colorado River to Water Valley
Offset from this area is what looks to be a
triangular corral area, probably with a rock
wall, that had a natural drainage running
through it and a natural pool area, making it
very good for a horse corral. There is a
separate crossing of the North Concho River
and trail leading to this second area.
very obvious
trail
creek from
spring
prob bivouac
area
Water
drainage
I have scheduled a tentative date with the
landowner to survey this area on Saturday,
22 January. We will meet at the Water
Valley Stripes gas station at 8 a.m.
Everyone is invited. Bring metal detectors,
GPS, snacks, water, etc. I’ll send out more
details via email before the outing.
poss bldg
outline
View of potential location, looking south to north
with North Concho River at top of picture.
47th Annual Meeting of the
Southwest Federation of Archeological Societies
San Angelo, Texas, April 9, 2011
Hosted by the Concho Valley Archeological Society (CVAS)
The 47th SWFAS Symposium will be held in San Angelo, Texas on Saturday, April 9th. . This symposium provides the opportunity for avocational and student archeologists to present their work and have it published in the
SWFAS journal. The meeting is open to anyone interested in history and archeology.
The 47th SWFAS Symposium will be held in San Angelo, Texas on Saturday, April 9th. . This symposium
provides the opportunity for avocational and student archeologists to present their work and have it published
in the SWFAS journal. The meeting is open to anyone interested in history and archeology.
Each of the six member societies is responsible for presenting at least one paper on a topic within the
federation area (west Texas and east New Mexico). Papers from others including professionals are welcome.
A printed copy of the paper and a computer file copy (preferably in Word format) will be needed for
reproduction in the symposium transactions. This is due at the April 9, 2011 meeting. Presenters will be
notified of the time limit after the deadline. Please send the title, brief abstract, and a short biographical
sketch no later than February 15, 2011. If you have special needs, please let us know. Slide (carousel)
projectors and PowerPoint equipment will be available. If you would like a table for sales of books or other
items or for informational displays, please contact us.
The SWFAS board meeting will be held Saturday during lunch. At least one voting representative from each
member society should attend.
SEND ALL PRESENTER INFORMATION TO:
Bill Yeates Ph: 325-223-5072
8775 Ducote Airpark Rd. email: [email protected]
San Angelo, Tx 76904
We are happy to announce that Jo Riemenschneider was voted in and
accepted the job of CVAS Secretary. We want to thank Marcia Esser for the
incredible job she did for us. Her organization skills are second to none.
Please don’t forget that dues are due this month. You can use the
back of the newsletter to send in your renewal. Thanks.
Concho Valley Archeological Society
Page 5
Coronado Slept Here, Part II
Panhandle tossed out in favor of Concho site
By Elmer Kelton, Standard Times Staff Writer, 25 Oct 1959
CVAS member, Ray Theiss, discovered this article while looking through archives in West Texas Collection as ASU
and sent it to me. I thought is significant enough to reprint it. It will be presented in two parts in the December and
January CVAS newsletters. I’m sure Elmer Kelton would approve. If you missed Part I you can find it on the website
in the December CVAS newsletter. Tom Ashmore
====================================================================================
Coronado started his Texas journey late in the spring of 1541 from a point some 20 miles north of present-day Albuquerque, N.M. This much has been established beyond dispute. He moved eastward or southeastward 37 days before
reaching the spot which Castaneda describes and which Williams maintains is the North Concho.
The Spaniards kept accurate account of mileage, for one man meticulously counted his steps. Accuracy on this record
has been proven by checking the Spaniards’ reports of distances between known points. They were amazingly close.
In the 37 days Coronado traveled 250 leagues, or 657 ½ miles. He wandered considerably, for his much straighter return trip to the same point in New Mexico took only 25 days and 444 miles. Allowing for a job at the salt lake southeast of modern Portales, N.M., the return route and the distance fit very well with the Sterling County campsite.
“The North Concho might well have been the last ravine,” Williams writes, “not only because it was the lone point
within the pecan country near enough to the Rio Grande to satisfy the known arithmetic of Cononado’s journey, but it
was far enough south to have been the place where this party of Spaniards could have found ripe grapes.”
“Accepting the fact that the North Concho was the final campsite, Williams backtracks to show the most probable route
which Coronado followed. He accepts the view of Lubbock historian W.C. Holden that Coronado started near Albuquerque and traveled eastward through New Mexico’s Glorieta Pass, the only mountain pass available to the Pecos
Pueblo, two miles south of the present Pecos, N.M. The Spaniards then followed the west side of the Pecos River to
Anton Chico, N.M., where they built a bridge and crossed over. They paralleled the river most of the way to Santa
Rosa, N.M., then headed east across the plains to a point south of Tucumcari, N.M. There Williams departs from all
historical accounts and draws his own route.
He says there were few ways in those days
by which travelers could cross the watershy plains. Even to the time of the Indianfighting Mackenzie in 1874 it was accepted
that only three eastward routes existed
across the high plains from the Pecos
River.
Williams believes Coronado traveled
southeastward toward Portales and on
across into Texas, probably camping in
Lamb County. He reasons that from here
the Spaniard followed Indian trails the remaining 180 miles down to the his final
camp on the North Concho.
Bad water, or lack of water, virtually dictated the route the explorer could travel.
Williams parallels Coronado’s route with
one used later by Mackenzie.
Meeting Location
W E ’ R E O N T H E W E B AT
C VA S S A N A N G E L O . O RG
Please remember that our meetings are now in the classroom at the Fort
Concho Living History Stables, 236 Henry O. Flipper St. We enter
through the side door.
2011 Membership Application
$15
$20
(active military only)
Mail to: CVAS, PO Box 703, San Angelo, TX 76902