The Sierra Vieja is a small mountain range in the

Trans-Pecos The Trans-Pecos, as originally defined in 1887 by the Texas geologist Robert T. Hill, is the distinct portion of Texas that lies west of the Pecos River. The term is considered synonymous with Far West Texas, a subdivision of West Texas. The Tran ...

region of

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...

, 42 miles northwest of the city of

Marfa Marfa may refer to: Music * Marfa (instrument), an African percussion instrument * Marfa (music), celebratory music of the Hyderabadi Muslims Places * Márfa, a village in Baranya county, Hungary * Marfa, Chad * Marfa, Texas, a city in the hi ...

in far western Jeff Davis County and northwestern

Presidio County Presidio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,131. Its county seat is Marfa. The county was created in 1850 and later organized in 1875. Presidio County (K-5 in Texas topological i ...

. The range extends 16 miles south, from just east of the Van Horn Mountains. Locally known as the Candelaria Rim Rock, the Sierra Vieja comprise the southernmost tip of the

Southern Rocky Mountains The Southern Rocky Mountains are a major subregion of the Rocky Mountains of North America located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, the central and western portions of Colorado, the northern portion of New Mexico, and ext ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. ''Sierra vieja'' is Spanish for "old mountains". Capote Peak is the most prominent in the range and is located 14 miles northwest of

Ranch to Market Road 2810 A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

. It has an elevation of 6,212 ft above sea level, with its summit rising 1,882 ft above nearby Capote Creek. The peak stands at the southeastern edge of the range. ''Capote'' means "cloak" or "cape", referring to the fog and mist that occasionally surround the peak. Local folklore recounts that the name may be related to the

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan languages, Southern Athabaskan Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people, who have lived in the Oasisamerica, Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European ...

Chief Capote, who lived in the region around 1850.

Cultural history

Archaeological evidence indicates a long history of human presence in the Sierra Vieja. When

Cabeza de Vaca In Mexican cuisine, ''cabeza'' (''lit.'' 'head'), from barbacoa de cabeza, is the meat from a roasted beef head, served as taco or burrito fillings. It typically refers to barbacoa de cabeza or beef-head barbacoa, an entire beef-head traditionall ...

, the first European to explore the Big Bend in 1535, traveled up the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, he encountered a large Native American population. The extensive number of Indian sites along Walker Creek and Capote Creek are also evidence of human occupation for thousands of years. In later years, the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

resided in the Sierra Vieja. The Native American presence in the area hindered cattle ranching until the final years of the 19th century. The Sierra Vieja rim has long served as an unofficial boundary, with Spanish language and culture prevailing west of the range on both sides of the Rio Grande. The range largely remains within the boundaries of several large ranches.

Geology and vegetation

Large-scale silicic

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. It is caused by the presence of a he ...

began in the Sierra Vieja about 39 million years ago and continued until about 35 million years ago, with the range being composed of a sequence of tertiary flow and pyroclastic rocks. The shallow, stony soils in the Sierra Vieja support live oak,

piñon pine The pinyon or piñon pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah, with the single-leaf pinyon pine just reaching into southern Idaho. The trees yield edible nuts, which are a staple food ...

, juniper, conifer, cacti, and grasses. The mountains are also home to the Hinckley columbine. The plant has fern-like, delicate foliage and canary-yellow flowers. It grows to about 3.5 ft tall and is endemic to a single site,

Capote Falls Capote Falls is a waterfall on Capote Creek in the Sierra Vieja mountains in northwestern Presidio County, Texas, United States. At up to tall, it is the highest waterfall in Texas. Serving as a moist oasis in an otherwise barren area, the site is ...

in the Sierra Vieja. Capote Falls, located on spring-fed Capote Creek, is the highest waterfall in Texas at 175 ft. Despite its location in one of the driest parts of the state, it is the main drainage below the Rio Grande Rift and the Sierra Vieja on its way to the Rio Grande, and as such, it flows consistently. The waterfall is located on private property.

References

{{Mountains of Texas Mountain ranges of Texas Landforms of Presidio County, Texas