Pecos Trail Region

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WHERE EAGLE’S FLY

The Eagle Pass of the modern age arose from a much smaller settlement not too far downriver from its present location, a spot at the mouth of the Rio Escondido where it joins the Rio Grande, also a favorite crossing for smugglers in the early days of the 1800s. The crossing, called El Paso del Aguila (Spanish for “eagle”), is probably named for the many Crested Caracaras (a member of the falcon family often mistaken for an eagle) once seen flying from the riparian woodlands along the Escondido. The community moved upstream to take advantage of the ring of safety provided by Fort Duncan, an 1849 military post established along the region’s river frontier. The new location provided a trade and traffic point for settlers, emigrants, and fortune-seekers headed to the California gold fields. Today, Eagle Pass celebrates a lively heritage legacy, one it shares with its sister city of Piedras Negras just across the river border. This Texas Main Street City is particularly proud of its courthouse, a Maverick County ornamental beauty constructed in the 1880s and restored with the help of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.