About the Pecos River
PECOS
(Pay cuss)
The Pecos River meanders lazily through the Northeastern part of New Mexico and continues quietly through western Texas, murmuring to dozens of small villages as it searches out the Rio Grande at the bottom. Although not a well known as her sister, the Mississippi, it is far more famous. For one thing, it is the division between everything that is and everything that ain’t. Everything east of the Pecos is “ain’t” (except for Texas). For instance, “The Best Barbeque West of the Pecos” or “The Biggest Festival West of the Pecos”. No one brags about being east of the Pecos.
John Troesser wrote: “Pecos used to be used as a verb. Like Shanghai. It meant to rob someone and roll the body down a steep riverbank where it was unlikely to be found until you were long gone. Murder was optional. It’s not heard much anymore, since criminals now don’t go to the effort of concealing their crimes.
I Pecos — We Pecos
You Pecos — Y’all Pecos
He, she or it Pecoses — They Pecos
My wife Pecosed her first three husbands.
That was the Sheriff y’all Pecosed last night.
I was learnin’ my boy to Pecos when I got snake bit.
There’s been a lot of Pecosin’ goin’ on at the Sheffield Riverwalk.”
Hey, Maybe it’ll catch on again. We can PECOS the party. Hon, would you Pecos that light and get some sleep. I feel a Pecos mood coming on. Did you enjoy the dinner, it was last nights road Pecos!
Maybe Pecosing got wore out ever since Judge Roy Bean pecosed everybody that was a guest in his courtroom – even a few lawyers I suspect.
So the next time you hear the name Pecos, you’ll be a little up on the history.
Many, many things have made the Pecos River famous, but none as much as it’s all-time hero, Pecos Bill.
Living in Texas, I get to see an awful lot of the Pecos, but asside from the Pecos, I think my favorite is the River Walk. Most of us older folks are vaguely aware that the famous Alamo is in San Antonio Texas, but just down the street from it is one of the prettiest riverbanks I have ever seen. With walks shaded by trees and decked with flowers, the River Walk is lined on both sides with shops offering just about every souvenir imaginable. There are Paddlewheels that travel up and down that section of the river giving visitors a tour of the historic sites, complete with tour guides pointing them out and giving everyone the history behind them.
The Tall Tale of Pecos Bill
Read the legend of the cowboy who lassoed tornados and dug rivers.
Read the Tale