Sul Ross State University - Brand Yearbook (Alpine, TX)

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T HE Peak of Castillon, whose outline is here reflected in the pellucid waters of the Charco at its feet, guards the white and lavender beauties of the so-called Petrified Forest of the Big Bend. Here there are no flaunting colors, no flagrant reds, staring purples, or crass, bright yellows; these colorings are all pastel—the soft yellow of the desert’s sand, the mauve of a mountain shadow, the delicate pink, lavender, and gray of a volcanic ash. And over these ex¬ quisite tints and tones, peace broods eternally. But Castillon has had its day of strife, and has shown its mettle to man. Once—perhaps a decade or more ago—a band of scouting soldiers climbed to the top of Castillon. They were forced to remain upon its top for several days, until others came with ropes to help them scale its sheer, precipitous sides. Thus Castillon stands, proud and unconquered, a monarch sur¬ veying his own.

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Castillon Village P EACEFUL and happy valley homes are these, at the foot of Castillon Peak, the mountain of the big castle, which towers just above them. At the southern side of this quiet hamlet rises a range ot mountains that divides the States from Old Mexico. From the village one may see a white line or trail, winding up the hillside, to disappear at the top into the horizon —the Smuggler’s trail into Mexico. Burros loaded with plunder, men bowed under the load of contraband, have cut into the naked rock, with their plodding feet, a story of their passing. The traveler, desiring to reach Mexico from here, must go some thirty or forty miles to circum¬ vent the mountain range—unless, being sturdy and adventurous, he takes the time-worn trail of the smuggler, and shortens his journey by some twenty-odd miles. Below, in the village, aged crones sit nodding in the sun, black hens scurry about, and brown Indian babies waddle after playful puppies, or sit crying in the sun’s heat. Fields of ripened yellow corn hedge in the thatched homes, and rustle mysteriously in the wind that blows from over the mountains of Mexico.