Driving into Guadalupe Mountains National Park for the first time, I stared up at the immense banks of the 8,000-foot “El Capitan”, a mountain that at one point in its history protected both Apache tribes fighting for their own land and African-American soldiers fighting for their own freedom.

The year was 1848 and following the extended conflict of the Mexican-American War, the “Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo” was signed, officially giving the United States sovereignty over Texas, California, and parts of New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. Forgotten in this treaty however, were the many native tribes that had lived in these regions for thousands of years and would cause endless amounts of conflict for the flood of manifest destiny driven migrants over the next four decades.

These clashes would come to a head at close of the Civil War in 1865, with the United States formally declaring war on the Apache Tribes in the region and sending in large units of African-American soldiers to clear them out. Recently emancipated and with no other options for employment in the South, these black soldiers had enlisted in the Army and were ironically tasked with denying the Apache what they had only recently won themselves: Freedom.

War would rage for many years to come over the unforgiving and brutal rocky terrain of the Guadalupe Mountains, with the soldiers earning the nickname “Buffalo Soldiers” from the Apache due do their dark skin and relentless fighting spirit.

Finally in 1881, peace would at last come to this region scarred by the blood of the men who fought to both conquer and protect it. Containing the highest peak in Texas, Guadalupe Peak at 8,749 feet, the Guadalupe Mountain ramge would be officially be protected as a National Park in 1972 (Nixon) and today demonstrates a unique landscape full of massive desert cliffs, white salt flats, and rolling green plains.

Located just a short hour and a half drive from El Paso, the Guadalupe Mountains are a fantastic place to hike, explore, and enjoy the outdoors. Here are my photos from my trip: