The San Antonio–El Paso Road, also known as the Lower Emigrant Road or Military Road, was an economically important trade route between the Texas cities of San Antonio and El Paso between 1849 and 1882. Mail, freight, and passengers traveled by horse and wagon along this road across the Edwards Plateau and dangerous Trans-Pecos region of West Texas.

The "Upper Emigrant Road" originated at Austin and skirted the north of the Edwards Plateau. It intersected the Lower Road near Comanche Springs west of Horsehead Crossing of the Pecos River. Map, page 27, Woodhouse, S.W., edited and annotated by Andrew Wallace and Richard H. Hevly, From Texas to San Diego in 1851: The Overland Journal of Dr. S.W. Woodhouse, Surgeon-Naturalist of the Sitgreaves Expedition, Texas Tech University Press (2007), hardcover, 358 pages

In 1848, businessmen in San Antonio hired John Coffee Hays to find a route to El Paso. Hays and a squad of Texas Rangers spent three and a half months on their quest, but only made it as far as Presidio due to lack of food and water.

By 1849, gold seekers wishing to get to California to stake claims were arriving in Texas and looking for opportunities to travel west. Brevet Major General William J. Worth ordered Lieutenant William H.C. Whiting and Lieutenant William Farrar Smith to find a suitable route to El Paso. They were to follow Hays' trail to Presidio and continue up the Rio Grande to El Paso. The team made it to El Paso, but believed the route was unsatisfactory. On the return trip, they traveled down the Rio Grande for 100 miles, then headed east for the Pecos River. They followed the Pecos to Devils River and the Devils back to the Rio Grande. From there, they headed east to San Antonio.

Brevet Brigadier General William S. Harney, commanding the Army in Texas after General Worth's death in the San Antonio cholera epidemic, ordered Lieutenant Smith to accompany Lieutenant Colonel Joseph E. Johnston on another survey expedition to El Paso. The survey party was escorted by a company of the First Infantry. Also, six companies of the Third Infantry and a group of California-bound immigrants accompanied them. One of these Forty-niners, Robert Eccleston, wrote a journal describing incidents of the journey and the land they passed over, with the mileage, each day along the route.Eccleston, Robert, edited by Hammond, George P. and Howes, Edward H., Overland to California on the Southwestern Trail 1849, University of California Press, 1950. The trail they followed to El Paso differed only slightly from Whiting and Smith's return route. This trail became known as the Lower or Military Road, and then the San Antonio–El Paso Road.

"In 1850, the largest supply train to use the road" left Fort Inge for El Paso with 340 wagons, 4000 animals, 450 civilians, and 175 soldiers.

To protect people and supplies along the road from Indians and bandits, the Army constructed a series of fortifications: These included Fort Inge (1849–1869), Fort Clark (1852–1944), Fort Lancaster (1855–1862, 1867–1874), Fort Stockton (1859–1862, 1867–1886), Fort Davis (1854–1862, 1867–1891), Fort Quitman (1858–1861, 1868–1877, 1880–1882), and Fort Bliss (1849–). The road was used for the San Antonio-El Paso Mail from 1851–1862 and 1866–1882, and as part of the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line route in 1857–1858. The Butterfield Overland Mail began using the Lower Road from Fort Stockton to El Paso in 1859–1861.

1859 table of distances along the San Antonio-El Paso Road These distances were measured from one station or watering place to another from starting point.Table of distances from Texas Almanac, 1859, Book, ca. 1859; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123765/ accessed November 12, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association, Denton, Texas

San Antonio to Leon River, 6.53 miles Leon river to Castroville, on the Medina River, 18.0 miles Castroville to D'Hanis Seco River, 25.28 miles D'Hanis to Rancheros Creek, 8.38 miles Ranchero Creek to Sabinal River, 3.94 miles Sabinal Creek to Camanche Creek, 5.0 miles Camanche Creek to Rio Frio, 8.46 miles Rio Frio to head of Leona River, "Uvalde", Fort Inge 6.08 miles Uvalde to Nueces River, 9.04 miles Nueces to Turkey Creek, 10.27 miles Turkey Creek to Elm Creek, 15.23 miles Elm Creek to Las Moras River, Fort Clarke, 7.13 miles / 123.34 miles

Fort Clarke to Piedra Pinto, 7.0 miles Piedra Pinto to Maverick Creek, 8.86 miles Maverick Creek to San Felipe Springs, 12.61 miles San Felipe to first crossing of San Pedro or Devil's River, 10.22 miles First Crossing to Painted Caves, 2.54 miles Painted Caves to California Spring, 15.73 miles California Spring to Willow Spring, 2 miles Willow Spring to Fort Hudson, and second crossing Pedro or Devil's River, 16.39 miles / 75.35 miles

Fort Hudson to head of San Pedro or Devil's River, 19.50 miles Head of river to Howard Springs, 44 miles Howard Springs to Live Oak Creek, 30.44 miles Live Oak creek to Fort Lancaster, 3 miles /96.94 miles

Fort Lancaster to Pecos Crossing, 4.29 miles Pecos Crossing to Pecos Spring, 6 miles Pecos Spring to Leaving of Pecos, 32.26 miles Leaving of Pecos to Arroyo Escondido, 16.26 miles Arroyo Escondido to Escondido Spring, 8.58 miles Escondido Spring to Comanche Springs, 19.40 miles Comanche Spring to Leon Hole, 8.88 miles Leon Hole to Hackberry Pond, 11 miles Hackberry pond to Limpia Creek, 32 miles Limpia creek to Fort Davis, 18.86 miles /157.99 miles

Fort Davis to Point of Rocks, 10 miles Point of Rocks to Barrel Springs, 8.42 miles Barrel Springs to Deadman's Hole, 13.58 miles Deadman's Hole to Van Horn's Wells, 32.83 miles Van Horn's Wells to Eagle Springs, 19.74 miles Eagle Springs to first camp on Rio Grande, 31.42 miles First camp on Rio Grande to Birchville, 35 miles / 150.99 miles

Birchville to San Eleazario, 24.8 miles San Eleazario to Socorro, 5.45 miles Socorro to Isletta, 3.1 miles Isletta to El Paso, Fort Bliss 14.14 miles / 47.49 miles

References

Francell, Lawrence John. Fort Lancaster. Texas State Historical Association, 1999. Military Map of the Rio Grande Frontier, Prepared from Original Surveys, County Maps, Reports of Officers, & etc., by Capt. W. R. Livermore, 1883 Includes entire length of San-Antonio–El Paso Road, with landmarks. H. Stever, "Stagecoach Lines," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed September 05, 2016 Wayne R. Austerman, "San Antonio-El Paso Mail, Handbook of Texas Online, accessed September 06, 2016 Reports of the Secretary of War: With Reconnaissances of Routes from San Antonio to El Paso, United States. Army. Corps of Topographical Engineers, Printed at the Union office, Washington, 1850

External links San Antonio-El Paso Road