Mitre Peak
The History of
by Kleo Belay
In a landscape filled with prominent landmarks and signature geological formations,
Mitre Peak rises like a beacon. A term used for a bishop’s hat or a carving tool bearing the
same distinctive shape, Mitre presides over the landscape between Alpine and Fort Davis, its
precipitous and symmetrical walls rising to meet at one distinctive point. Like a sentinel it
draws one’s eye and curiosity while passing through the broad landscape of North Brewster
and South Jeff Davis Counties, its story and history as profound as its presence.
Known by geologists as a monadnock or
inselberg, Mitre Peak formed as a volcanic
intrusion that never reached the earth's
surface. Millions of years ago, what is now
the highest point of Mitre Peak sat beneath
layers of sedimentary and metamorphic rock,
which after years of exposure to wind and
rain eroded away to expose the harder and
more stable igneous rock of Mitre Mountain.
These exposed forms are often conical or
dome-shaped, another example being Hen
Egg Mountain in South Brewster County.
The isolated rock formation rising from a
level plain makes Mitre Peak a natural
landmark. As long as human beings have
traveled through this desert landscape, for
thousands of years before recorded history,
Mitre Peak would have been a focal point.
Its distinctive shape not only served as a
familiar point in orienting through a vast
country, but also as an indicator for
prehistoric man’s most precious resource,
water.
Several springs exist in the small canyons
See page 26
4
Cenizo
Winter 2020
Mitre Peak in Early Light by Robert Haspel