Editing Culberson County, Texas (section)

===Explorations===
The demand for new routes from Texas to California caused an uptick in explorations.<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Culberson County | id= hcc28| author=Kohout, Martin Donell| retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association.</ref> The San Antonio-to-El Paso leg of the San Antonio-California Trail was surveyed in 1848 under the direction of [[John Coffee Hays]].

Texas Commissioner [[Robert Simpson Neighbors]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Neighbors, Robert Simpson| id= fne08| author=Richardson, Rupert N | retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historic</ref> was sent by [[Peter Hansborough Bell|Governor Peter Hansborough Bell]] in 1850 to organize El Paso.

Lt. Francis Theodore Bryan<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Bryan, Francis Theodore| id= fbral| author=Powell, William S | retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> camped at [[Guadalupe Pass (Texas)|Guadalupe Pass]] while exploring a route from San Antonio to El Paso via [[Fredericksburg, Texas|Fredericksburg]]. Upon reaching El Paso in July 1849, his report recommended sink wells along the route. In July 1848, Secretary of War [[William L. Marcy]] wanted a military post established on the north side of the [[Rio Grande]]. Major [[Jefferson Van Horne]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Van Horne, Jefferson| id=fva08| author=Kohout, Martin Donell | retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> was sent out in 1849 to establish Marcy's goal.

[[John Russell Bartlett]],<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Bartlett, John Russell | id=fba93| author=Faulk, Odie B| retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Bartlett, John Russell | publisher=The John Russell Bartlett Society | url=http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/jrb/about.html | access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref> was commissioned in 1850 to carry out the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]]. Bartlett declared the [[Guadalupe Mountains]] dark and gloomy, and proposed a transcontinental railroad be built south of the peaks. Three years later, Captain [[John Pope (general)|John Pope]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Pope, John | id=fpo16| author=Cutrer, Thomas W| retrieved=April 30, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> was sent to scout out a railroad route, and in the succeeding year to search for artesian water supplies.

The [[San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line]] and the [[Butterfield Overland Mail]]<ref>{{cite web | title=San Antonio-San Diego Mail | publisher=State of California Parks Department | url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24437|access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref> both serviced the area 1857–1861. These mail coaches provided a means for travelers to reach California in 27 days if the passenger had the $200 for a one-way fare and was courageous enough to withstand the weather and dangers en route.<ref>{{cite web | title=San Antonio-California Trail | publisher=Texas Historical Marker | url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5109012657 | access-date=April 30, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314204838/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5109012657 | archive-date=March 14, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Rival railway companies began competing for rights of way. The [[Texas and Pacific Railway]]<ref>{{cite web | title=Texas and Pacific Railway | publisher=Texas and Pacific Railway| url=http://www.texaspacificrailway.org/structures/tx/el-paso |access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref>  and the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway<ref>{{cite web | title=Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway | publisher=Texas Transportation Museum | url=http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/Sunset.htm | access-date=April 30, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930190318/http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/Sunset.htm | archive-date=September 30, 2011 | url-status=dead}}</ref> eventually reached an agreement to share the tracks.