| Van Horn is located at the intersection of Texas Highway 54, U.S. Highway 90 and Interstate 10, approximately 120 miles east of EI Paso. The modern town is the seat of rural Culberson County, and is snuggled in a valley surrounded by the Baylor and Beach Mountains to the north and northwest, Carrizo and Eagle Mountains to the west and southwest, Van Horn and Wylie Mountains to the south and southeast and the Apache and Delaware Mountains to the east and northeast. Three Mile ("Turtleback") and Six Mile Peaks in the Beach Mountain Range are those most commonly identified with Van Horn, with the former resembling the shape of a turtle and the latter resembling (on a smaller scale) EI Capitan, the prominent peak at the southern tip of the Guadalupe Mountain Range (located in northern Culberson County).
There is a legend of how the Eagle Mountains got their name. A lofty peak of 7,516 feet towers behind the Eagle Springs, and signal fires could be seen from the mountain top for miles around. It was a favorite camping place for the Indians, who named the springs because the huge bluff 75 feet high reminded them of an everlasting watching eagle, always looking to the west as if watching the setting sun. The legend is that there was a rich mine located across the Rio Grande River that only one tribe knew about, until one of its members was captured by a rival tribe. After being tortured and tormented into revealing the secret location, he was turned into a mammoth stone eagle for his treachery, to guard the secret mine forever. The torturers of the rival tribe were captured and the Great Spirit turned them into smaller stone eagles and placed them about to help guard and remind the tribe of w hat happened.
The Van Horn Wells were about twelve miles south of the future townsite, and were reportedly discovered by Major Jefferson Van Horne, who became commander at Fort Bliss in EI Paso in 1849. These wells were weIl known to nineteenth century travelers, as the Old Spanish Trail ran about four miles south of Van Horn. After leaving Fort Davis, it passed the Van Horn Wells and went through Bass Canyon, by Eagle Springs and on to Fort Quitman, Fort Hancock and into EI Paso.
The coaches of the San Antonio to San Diego Mail Route (said to be the oldest American Trans-Continental Route) passed through the area in the late 1850's and early 1860's, when Lieutenant James Judson Van Horn (no relation to Major Van Horne) was in command of an ar my garrison at Van Horn Wells. Lieutenant Van Horn's command lasted only two years, from 1859 to 1861, when Confederate forces seized the wells and took him prisoner. His fame was ensured twenty years later when the town was founded a few miles north and named after him.
At the Van Horn Wells, signs of the Old Stage Stand may still be seen, as weIl as signs of old battlegrounds. In 1879, Indians of the Mescalero Apache tribe were very hostile and swept down from the Guadalupe and Sierra Diabio Mountains to the north to attack an immigrant party in Bass Canyon, about twelve miles west of the Van Horn Wells. The dead were buried at the wells, and their graves are still there. In the Eagle Mountains, there is a place where some Buffalo soldiers battled Indians, and anumber of them are buried there.
The last Indian battle in the area was also the last to be fought in the State of Texas, occurring January 29, 1881, in the mouth of Victorio Canyon. The canyon, which was named für the Apache chief slain in Mexico the year before, is located on the eastern slope of the Sierra Diabio Mountains ("Devil Mountains") 25 miles north of Van Horn. It is almost inaccessible because of its high walls which rise almost straight up to a height of 1,500 feet. A party of eighteen rangers trailed and surprised the Indians, and a bloody battle followed.
With the Indian era ended by the 1881 battle, completion of the Texas and Pacific Railroad became a reality, and the Town of Van Horn came into existence during the same year. However, there were still a lot of wild oats für the young town to sow. There is a locallegend that the first adult to die in Van Horn (an infant child was the first to die in 1881) , was rancher Bill Goynes, whose passing was not without irony.
In tribute to Van Horn's climate, Goynes supposedly suggested the motto, "This Town Is So Healthy We Had To Shoot A Man To Start A Cemetery ." The motto graced a sign which later hung in the lobby of the Clark Hotel. Shortly thereafter, Goynes himself was shot dead by his brother-in-law in a feud over a watering hole, thereby becoming the first man buried in the Van Horn Cemetery.
From its start as a railroad watering and shipping point, Van Horn soon diversified with mining and ranching ventures. But the qualities of climate and excellent drinking water, which were the predominant ingredients of its earlier beginnings, are still the town's biggest claims to fame. Over 100 years later, there are some 10,000 vehicles passing through Van Horn every day! The beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert combined with majestic mountains, brings people from all over the world to witness unique geology, flora and fauna.
Now designated by the State of Texas as "The Crossroads of the Texas Mountain Trail," Van Horn awaits visitors to Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns and Big Bend National Parks, Fort Davis National Historic Site, the U.T. - McDonald Observatory and more! With nearly 600 rooms between eighteen motels, twenty restaurants and over 150 hook-ups between 4 RV parks, Van Horn is definitely traveler-friendly. Hospitality here is natural, after so many years of practice, and the town's centrallocation among the major tourist attractions of West Texas, make Van Horn the top choice for accommodations and service. Come and see us!
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