TERLINGUA ABAJA,
(or Lower Terlingua), THE ORIGINAL TOWN OF TERLINGUA, TEXAS
Terlingua Abaja, or Terlingua Abajo, is now within the boundaries of the Big Bend National Park.
This location provided a fertile growing soil, and most important, water from Terlingua Creek that sometimes flooded
the plains, replenishing the soil for future crops. The creek flows into the Rio Grande River within a short distance
downstream, at the Grand Canyon of Santa Helena, or the Mouth of the Santa Elena Canyon. Before the settlement
was established by Mexican farmers and merchants, the earliest Texas tribes, the Chisos, Apaches, Comanches,
and many other Native Americans camped, hunted, gathered food, and even farmed here. The Native
hunters and gatherers had all become extinct from the area by the 1880's.
The Best and most accurate way of describing the history of Terlingua is to quote the history that was written
prior to the end of the World War II, or soon after. In the book "The Way I heard It, Tales of the Big Bend",
By Walter Fulcher and edited by Elton Miles, printed by the University of Texas Press, copyrighted in 1959, the
following are quotes from the chapter, PLACES, NAMES, AND WHAT HAPPENED.
When the name "Terlingua" - which had been moved from the little farming community called Terlingua
to the Mariposa Mine - was moved again to the Chisos Mine and that place took the name of "Terlingua", the Mexican people
never accepted the change. To them Terlingua still meant the village at the mouth of the creek of that name, and
they still to this day call the mining village "Chisos".
How memories are forgotten, and name origins are also forgotten when time evolves!
The importance that Terlingua began on the Terlingua Creek, near the mouth of the Santa Elena Canyon is often
ignored, and place names are remembered for commercial reasons rather than for historical accuracy.
Terlingua is a large community today, covering a large area in the desert, bordering the Big Bend
National Park. See local map and historical maps for details.
For more history on Terlingua name, see the history links
