Large fields of wind turbines rise from high mesas surrounding McCamey. With blades up to 90 feet long these giant windmills convert wind power into clean energy, making McCamey the official "Wind Energy Capital of Texas." McCamey sprang to life in 1925 as an boomtown after wildcatter George B. McCamey discovered oil near a line of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway. Within six months 10,000 people had moved to the dusty tent city. From 1927 until 1932 McCamey was also home to one of West Texas’ first petroleum refineries. The Mendoza Trail Museum houses oil boom mementos, along with Native American artifacts, fossils and relics of the Wild West days. An early Santa Fe Railroad depot sits on the museum site, as does the 1915 Adrian House, a Western bungalow filled with period furnishings and clothing. The museum takes its name from Spanish explorer Juan Domínguez de Mendoza. During the 17th century he followed an Indian trail through Castle Gap, a natural break in the mesas. Gold Rush 49ers, military expeditions and cattle drovers followed the trail during the 19th century enroute to the Horsehead Crossing of the Pecos River.