Lajitas is small for sure but has a rich and interesting history. Here are the highlights. In spanish, Lajitas means “small flat rocks,” which comes as no surprize since the ground of southwest Texas is nothing more than broken bits of ancient limestone sediments strewn across the Chihauhaun Desert. Aboriginal Mexicans occupied the land until Apache and Comanche Tribes moved in during the 18th and 19th centuries; and the first white settlers arrived in the mid 1800’s. The area boomed when in 1890, silver was discovered in nearby Terlingua, and three additional events supported what appeared to be a progressive future for Lajitas: it was established as a port of entry when cattle ranches and mining companies popped up in Mexico, farming increased along the fertile river flood plain, and the town built a trading post, saloon, and custom house in 1912.

Before continuing, I’ve learned there are two clear certainties in this part of Texas. First, the desert is an absolutely unforgiving, harsh, and difficult place to exist. Second, those who settle and stay here are extremely tough, must co-exist with the desert to survive, and have limited tolerance for outsiders. Of course, money still talks. With that as a backdrop, H.W. McGuirk, a silver mine manager, took possession of the land around Lajitas in 1912, built a church, and established a Post Office. Thomas V. Skaggs, a successful employee of the Lajitas Wax Company, purchased Lajitas from McGuirk around 1916. That same year, a Calvary Post was established in response to the infamous Pancho Villa, who with his bandits was causing havoc with local commerce. After ownership changed hands several more times, Rex Ivey Jr. bought Lajitas in 1947 and sold part of it to Houston businessman, Walter M. Mischer, in 1949. The silver mines closed in the late 1940’s and the population of Lajitas fell to 5. The desert seemed to be winning!

Mischer took full ownership in 1977 and operated the property for the next 23 years. He built an old-west boardwalk, a 9-hole golf course, and an affordable 90-room hotel. Rex Ivey’s son Bill ran the 65-year old Trading Post, which became a critical anchor for the tiny community. Whites, Mexicans, and Natives not only met there, but bought groceries and used it for all their personal needs. In Bill’s words, “I was doctor, vet, lawyer, marriage counselor, pharmacist, and an importer of wax. I even ran the rafting business out my back door. I only had two rules: no fighting and no spitting, at least not in the store. And everyone carried guns back then, but they knew to check them with me at the door or I’d lose my beer license.” By the mid-80’s, Lajitas had become a resort town with 15 businesses and a population of 50. Co-existence with the desert had returned and brought some measure of prosperity.

Mischer decided to sell Lajitas by auction in early 2000. An unknown outsider named Steve Smith swooped in via helicopter at the opening of the auction and purchased the property on a whim for $4.25 million. Smith, an Austin-based telecommunications tycoon, was quoted by the San Antonio Express-News shortly thereafter as saying, “My first thought was, I’d spend a million to spruce it up a little bit.” Locals were happy that it seemed little was going to change. But in 2002, Smith announced his new vision. Lajitas was going to be expanded into a 5-star resort with two world-class golf courses, a lake surrounded by exclusive multi-million dollar vacation homes, property for 800 2-acre residential lots priced at $1 million each, four restaurants, health spa, amphitheater, equestrian center, hunting club, and an RV Park with $100,000 membership for $500,000 RV rigs. Smith was reported to have spent between $40 and $100 million on his vision only to have the desert disagree. In what became known locally as “Smith’s Folly,” the vision was never fully realized, the resort never exceeded 50% occupancy, only 5 private homes were built. Smith filed for bankruptcy during the summer of 2007. At that time, the resort was $15 million in debt with monthly operating costs of $500,000.

And yet, regardless of its rollercoaster history, Dallas businessman Kelcy Warren purchased “Lajitas Resorts” in December 2007 for $13.5 million saying, “I still think it could be something special…it’s a treasure.” He was informed by a local hermit, who at the time was still squating on the resort property, that what caused Smith’s failure was the imposed exclusivity. Only time and the desert will tell whether Warren heeds what he heard and can transform his investment into a success.

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The Maverick RV Park has a 4.5 of 5 rating on RV Trip Wizard, our online app for planning trips and selecting parks. There were 101 campsites in the park, a swimming pool, laundry, and camp store. The Park roads and site pads were paved, and the space between campsites was more substantial than normal. Our daily rate for the 2-week stay was $47, which is about the average. In the photo below, we’re not visible tucked in the back right corner.

We went to the resort boardwalk just about every day. We found the Bakery and Pizzeria served an outstanding Americano with an extra shot and steamed heavy cream that rivaled any Starbucks. Good thing, since the nearest Starbucks was over an hour away in Alpine. The boardwalk had a genuine western look, was beautifully landscaped, and provided a number of scenic views.

The resort built additional accommodations with swimming pool across Ranch Road, where the Calvary Post had once been. Developers retained the old fort look and feel, and we visited long enough to capture some interesting pictures.

We enjoyed egg and sausage breakfast tacos most mornings at the Bakery and Pizzeria but later discovered a recently-opened restaurant in Terlingua called Venga. Venga was a concrete building with comfortable spaces inside and out, lots of modern art on the walls, decent dark roast coffee, unique seating, and a delicious morning menu.

We walked on the golf course the evevning we arrived and immediately got the itch to play Black Jack’s Crossing before leaving. The course was named after Army General “Black Jack” Pershing who at one point in his career was tasked with thwarting the raids of Pancho Villa. A plaque posted on the clubhouse claimed Pershing chased Pancho Villa across the Rio Grande at Lajitas; however, I googled Pershing’s career, and while he and his men were assigned to El Paso at that time, there was no mention of any chase-across-the-river event. The original 9-hole course built by Mischer only had grass on the tees and greens, but today’s course was entirely seeded and as lush as you can imagine, thanks to gray water irrigation. The historic Trading Post was converted into the current clubhouse. The resort built a replacement called the General Store on Ranch Road at the east end of the town, but the atmosphere recounted earlier by Bill Ivey was long gone and never recaptured.

We played golf toward the end of our visit and agreed 9 holes was enough, given the hot weather and our general lack of fitness. But the club starter said that 9 holes wasn’t an option. OK! We rented clubs and a cart and scheduled a relatively early tee time. What followed was the most expensive round of golf we’ve ever experienced…by far. That said, our cart came equipped with GPS coverage for every hole and shot; a cooler with iced bottled water; a half dozen balls each; a gift towel; and a souvenir ditty bag with tees, ball markers, and green repair tool. The free balls were insufficient by a factor of three or more, but we found enough along the course to finish before running out.

As we drove to hole #1, there was a beautifully landscaped area containing an historic looking clock tower and a statue of General Robert E. Lee riding his horse, Traveler, and accompanied by a confederate calvary soldier. The sculpture had been unveiled in Dallas by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 and moved to Lajitas in 2017. Am I the only one questioning why this statue of these two soldiers would be here? There were no Civil War Battles fought anywhere near this part of Texas. Hmmm, one can only speculate.

While MFI paid our fees, the starter regaled me with historic stories about Lajitas and the course. One story was about a hole on the back 9 being the only place where you could hit north and have your ball land in Mexico. I was skeptical but took this video as proof of his claim. We kept our balls in the US.

We explored the area out of curiosity on several occasions and found housing to be largely a dichotomy. At one extreme, residents lived in million dollar homes overlooking Black Jack Crossing or the Terlingua Creek Canyon, while at the other extreme there were low-end homes, which frankly appeared nearly uninhabitable.

On the high end…

…And on the low end!

Vacationers had a wide range of accommodation options as well. While there were no brand-name hotels or motels, we did see a few rundown motels scattered along the roadways. But we also saw a variety of unique accommodations; everything from teepee’s to luxury caves. A vacation business called The Summit (sited at the base of a mountain with overlook called the Summit) operated the most unusual dwellings.

In the final analysis, everyting we saw and experienced was subject to existing in, while trying to survive, the desert. Every day was scorching hot. Every day was highly windy. And every once and a while strong storms blew through. We witnessed one just before we left for Tucson, and a 12-year employee at the resort told us this storm was the worst in his memory. The Park and a large swath of Lajitas and Terlingua lost power, and all RV accessories not tied down were swept into the trees along the east boundary.

This part of west Texas is absolutely remote and harsh, but visiting Big Bend National Park and the MacDonald Observatory definitely made it worthwhile. I believe that even without the Park and Observatory a visit here is meaningful and necessary, if for no other reason, to provide a valuable perspective for comparing to where you live. We left with only one question…

Will Lajitas survive both time and the desert?