Photo courtesy Archives of the Big Bend, Bryan Wildenthal Memorial Library, Sul
Ross State University, Alpine, Texas.
Iconic photo of Sheriff E. E. Townsend.
E.E. TOWNSEND
FATHER OF BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK
by Bob Miles
S
ometimes dreams do
come true. One man’s
dream did with the cre-
ation of Big Bend National
Park.
One day in 1933, Everett
Ewing Townsend of Alpine
was discussing the canyon
country along the Rio Grande
with fellow Texas legislator
R.M. Wagstaff of Abilene. “I
told him that ever since I came
there more than 40 years ago, I
24
had dreamed of buying the
Chisos Mountains, fencing
them in and keeping them as a
game preserve for myself and
friends. Since my ‘ship had not
come in,’ my dream was still
only a dream.”
Upon investigation, the two
legislators found that the state
owned some land in the area,
and a bill was drafted to trans-
fer these lands to the State
Parks Board, creating Texas
Canyons State Park. The bill
was signed by the governor on
Oct. 27, 1933.
Then, in March of 1935,
Rep. R.E. Thomason of El
Paso introduced a bill in
Congress to create a national
park in Brewster and Presidio
counties. A commission of
National Park Service officials
tentatively set the boundaries of
the park to include 780,000
acres. The state of Texas
acquired the land, and in 1943
the land deeds were turned
over to the National Parks
Service by Gov. Coke Stephen -
son in ceremonies at Sul Ross.
On June 12, 1944, Big Bend
National Park became the 27th
and sixth largest national park.
Plans were to include adjacent
lands across the river in Mexico
to create a international park of
some 2 million acres. While
these plans are still pending
and Townsend’s dream might
not have come true quite as he
dreamed it, the area he had
come to love had been pre-
served. He would become
known as the father of Big
Bend National Park.
Townsend was born in
Colorado County, Texas, on
Oct. 20, 1871. His father, Capt.
William Wallace Townsend,
was a Confederate veteran. He
farmed and raised livestock in
Colorado County until 1884,
when they moved to Eagle Pass
to give the children a better
chance to attend school.
The elder Townsend soon
became incapacitated and
unable to work, so the boys
went to work to provide for the
family. Everett worked a num-
ber of jobs from cowhand to
railroad fireman’s helper. In
1891, Townsend enlisted in
Texas
Ranger
Frontier
Battalion Company E under
Captain J.S. McNeel. He
served along the border in the
Laredo area for some 18
months. The state adjutant
general and McNeel continu-
ously disagreed upon matters,
and the captain was asked to
resign, at which time the other
rangers in the company, includ-
ing Townsend, also resigned.
After a brief time as a
deputy U.S. marshall, Townsend
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2010
was appointed as a U.S.
Customs mounted inspector
assigned to Presidio in 1894.
From Presidio he patrolled up
and down the Rio Grande in
some of the most the rugged
and isolated country in Texas.
While in the Marathon area,
he met Miss Alice Jones, and
about a year later, they were
married. They made their hon-
eymoon trip to Presidio by
stage coach.
Their early life there was
described in a 1937 article in
Farm and Ranch magazine:
“During her first year as a
bride, ‘Miss Allie’ rode 1,000
miles on horseback with her
husband as he went about his
duties. With only a pack mule
to carry food and bedding, the
young couple followed the trails
wherever they led, sleeping
under the stars which shine so
brilliantly in this desert land.
When their child (a daughter,
Margaret) was born in Presidio,
there was an American doctor,
but no woman of her own race
to attend the young mother.”
While there were few Anglos
in that stretch between Langtry
and El Paso, the Townsends
made many friends among the
Mexican population on both
sides of the border.
In 1898, Townsend resigned
from the Customs service and
served another two years in the
Texas Rangers, resigning in
1900 to manage a 100,000-
acre ranch in southwestern
Pecos County for the Elsinore
Cattle Company. For the next
16 years, he built up the ranch
with limited funds, improving
the quality of the livestock,
acquiring much of the state
land within the limits of the
ranch and making the E.L.
Ranch pay its way.
The Townsends moved to
Alpine in 1916, having invested
in a ranch near town. Alpine
had grown from when he first
saw it. “When I first drifted into
the Alpine country back in the
early 90s of the last century, I
found a lot of good fellows scat-
tered around here,” he said.
“Alpine was a little ‘cowtown’
spraddled across the railroad
tracks as uncertain in conform-
ity as a pair of ragged overalls.
The ranch owners and cow-
boys from the ranches were
honest hardworking examples
of true Americans.”
Two years later, Townsend
was elected sheriff of Brewster
County and re-elected for three
additional terms. During his
tenure as sheriff he was in -
volved in a tragic shootout with
the son of Wigfall Van Sickle, a
prominent Alpine attorney,
county judge and two-term
state legislator.
The incident occurred when
Townsend attempted to investi-
gate some automobiles he sus-
pected contained bootleg
whiskey. The vehicles were
parked outside the movie house
Hatley Van Sickle managed,
and he tried to stop Townsend
from investigating the automo-
biles. Words, then shots, were
exchanged. The sheriff sur-
vived, thanks to a notebook in
his vest pocket which deflected
a bullet. Van Sickle was mortal-
ly wounded and died a few
days later. The incident divided
the town, but in the trial that
followed Townsend was acquit-
ted.
Following his last term as
sheriff, Townsend spent eight
years working in private busi-
ness and civic affairs and mak-
ing frequent trips south to his
beloved Big Bend country.
In 1932, he was elected a
repre sentative in the Texas
Legislature where he began
working for the establishment
of a national park in the
ruggedly beautiful country he
had grown to love. In 1947,
Townsend was named com-
missioner of the Big Bend
Park, and his interest in the
region continued until his
death on November 19, 1948.
Sometimes dreams do come
true – with a little luck and a lot
of hard work.