Camp Melvin and the Pontoon Crossing of the Pecos River

The Handbook of Texas counts twenty-four names for the site between 1864 and 1926. Camp Melvin served as an outpost of Fort Lancaster from 1868 to 1871, and stagecoaches crossed here from 1868 to 1881. Raiders killed Juan Chabavilla and took the stage company's horses and mules in July 1873, and by October 1875 only two soldiers remained to guard the company's mules. In June 1878 a passenger was badly hurt when the stage was fired on five miles past the crossing. By 1960 a few crumbling walls and a stone corral were all that remained.

What the plaque says

As it winds its way across Texas, the Pecos River can often be swift and dangerous. Historically, frequent flooding made even the best crossings unusable. In May 1684, Spanish explorer Juan Domínguez de Mendoza and his expeditino team camped at a site south of here, now on private land, where they could safely cross the river. They named the location San Pantaleon. In 1840, trader Dr. Henry Connelly used the same crossing, and over the years it came to be known by various names, including Connelly's, as well as Fennelly, Camp Melvin, Camp Melbourne, Ficklin, Pecos and Pecos Mail Station. By the 1860s, the two main routes through the region bypassed the crossing here, as other fords presented fewer obstacles or appeared more secure. The northern route's Horsehead Crossing, however, was a target for Comanche attacks, and the southern route near Fort Lancaster failed to provide a convenient connection between Forts Concho and Stockton. As a result, Capt. F.S. Dodge of Fort Stockton sought a new crossing in 1868, and he chose the one previously used by Domínguez and Connelly. Designing a means to allow travelers a safe and reliable crossing of the Pecos was difficult, as the river's width often varied greatly. In partnership with stage line operator Ben Ficklin, the U.S. Army built a floating pontoon bridge near here. Landings on either bank could be moved closer or farther apart to accommodate changes in stream width. To protect travelers, the Army established Camp Melvin (Melbourne, Milvin) nearby, and a mail station also operated in the vicinity. By 1920, however, only parts of the pontoon bridge and nearby buildings remained. Increased settlement and improved transportation relegated the pontoon crossing and Camp Melvin to history. (2006)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Alley Oop Park and Iraan Museum — 9.0 mi
  An oil-boom town named for Ira and Ann Yates, where the creator of the caveman comic Alley Oop once worked, and a park of giant cartoon figures beside the town museum.
• Rankin Museum (Yates Hotel) — 15 mi
  The fireproof hotel Ira Yates built beside the Orient railway depot months after oil came in on his ranch in 1926, kept as it was down to the wicker lobby furniture.
• Mendoza Trail Museum — 15 mi
  A 1966 museum in a 1925 oil town, named for the Spanish officer who crossed this country in 1683 at the invitation of the Jumano, with a 1915 bungalow beside it.
• Fort Lancaster State Historic Site — 30 mi
  An 1855 post on Live Oak Creek above the Pecos, on the lower road to El Paso, where the army's camels passed three times and Buffalo Soldiers held off an attack in 1867.

More markers nearby

• Ruins of Fort Lancaster — 30 mi
• Howard's Well — 31 mi
• Old Government Road — 31 mi