Spanish Explorers

The Jumanos who guided Espejo were buffalo hunters and long-distance traders, middlemen between the Spanish colonies and peoples across Texas. Spaniards called them a rayado, or striped, people for the horizontal lines marked on their faces, a sign that made Jumano traders recognizable on sight. A chain of Jumano settlements on the lower Pecos, Toyah Creek and the Davis Mountains linked La Junta de los Rios to the Rio Nueces country near present San Angelo. By about 1700, with Apaches dominant across the plains, the Jumanos had lost their territorial base and ceased to exist as a distinct people.

What the plaque says

Spanish Explorers Antonio De Espejo in 1583, after exploring among pueblos in New Mexico, reached the Pecos River southeast of Santa Fe. He Named it Rio de Las Vacas (river of cows), for the abundance of buffalo. On his return route to Mexico he went down the river to near the present town of Pecos. Jumano Indians led his party to their camp on Toyah Lake. He then went down Toyah Creek and through the Big Bend. While Espejo was first to explore the Pecos, Castano de Sosa, on his way into New Mexico in 1590, was the first European to travel its full length. (1966)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Roy Orbison Museum — 30 mi
  A volunteer-run room in the oil town where Roy Orbison spent his high school years, opened on request, with a guitar he played and his tinted prescription sunglasses.

More markers nearby

• Mrs. Lillie W. Cole — steps away
• Reeves County-Pecos, Texas — steps away
• Emigrants' Crossing — steps away
• The Pecos Cantaloupe — steps away