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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Pecos County, Texas.
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The county was created in 1871 and organized in 1875. It is named for the Pecos River.
The Comanche Trail crossed Pecos County near Horsehead Crossing and through Comanche Springs.[6] The Chihuahua Trail connecting Mexico's state of Chihuahua with Santa Fe, New Mexico, brought travelers through the area by Comanche Springs about 1840.
A United States Army outpost, Fort Stockton, was established in 1858 at Comanche Springs to guard the San Antonio-El Paso Mail. That same year, the Butterfield Overland Mail began service to the army post.
Pecos County is home to one of the largest oil fields in the United States, the Yates Oil Field, which is in the extreme eastern part of the county, along the Pecos River. The field covers about 41 sqare miles near the town of Iraan. Discovered in 1926, it has produced over a billion barrels of oil, and most industry estimates give it more than another billion in recoverable reserves. The Yates Oil Field was one of the first giant fields to be found in the Permian Basin.
The town of Iraan, Texas, prides itself on being the birthplace of cartoon caveman Alley Oop, when creator V.T. Hamlin worked in the oilfields. Although first published in the Des Moines Register in 1932, Hamlin claimed to have originated the idea while he watched dinosaur bones being dug up by oil equipment. Visitors to Iraan can visit the Alley Oop Museum found on Alley Oop Lane. Fort Stockton pays tribute to the agile roadrunner with its Paisano Pete the Roadrunner statue.
Adjacent Counties
- Jeff Davis County
- Brewster County
- Reeves County
- Crane County
- Terrell County
- Ward County
- Crockett County
Cities & Communities
- Bakersfield
- Coyanosa
- Fort Stockton
- Girvin
- Imperial
- Iraan
- Sheffield
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