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The pastores are a little-known Hispanic sheepherding
group whose homeland was the grasslands
of north-central New Mexico (Quechero,
or Mescalero Plains). Established there by at
least the early nineteenth century, the pastores
practiced a transhumance lifestyle with their
flocks. The long circuits made in search of
pasturage and water for the flocks took males
away from their homes for extended periods.
For these sheepherders, material possessions
were basic and sparse as they traveled hundreds
of miles with their sheep. Economically,
the pastores were part of either the partido
system of herd management or a family business
that owned and managed the flock. The
New Mexico partido system, adapted from
that of Spain, was a means of lending capital at
interest that allowed a sheepherder to build up
his own flock, thereby moving to the family
business system.
A burgeoning sheep industry necessitated
new, open rangelands that were safe from
raids by Native peoples. Despite risks, pastores
began their incursion into the upper Canadian
River valley of eastern New Mexico by
1849 and the Canadian River valley of the
Texas Panhandle in the 1860s. In the middle
1870s, with the removal of the Native peoples
and near extermination of the bison herds on
which they depended, the vast grasslands
of the Texas Panhandle and Southern High
Plains became open territory. The value of this
area was realized quickly by the pastores as
they moved their flocks into the region. Part
of a longer circuit bringing the flocks back
to New Mexico, family settlements soon lined
the Canadian River valley and its tributaries
in the Texas Panhandle. By 1880, 340 pastores
were in that area. The pastores established
small settlements in previously used summer
grazing pastures with the intention of remaining
in the area on a year-round basis. Known
as plazas, the largest one (founded by Casimero
Romero in 1876) became the town of
Tascosa. The Canadian and Red River drainage
systems were the primary routes for circuits
and settlements.
Pastores sites have been identified in archeological surveys along the middle Pecos River near Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and the Canadian River valley in the Texas Panhandle. Rock corrals were common among a small variety of site types. Rock corrals, used by pastores, have been found in the eastern canyon lands of the Rolling Plains and within the drainages and on the uplands of the Southern High Plains.
The pastores fashioned a distinctive architecture and favored specific topographic and environmental settings. Corrals, built for shelter and protection, were located where abundant pasture and surface water coexisted. The locally available rock used in construction also influenced structure placement. Corrals, built of local materials and without mortar, were of variable size and were square, rectangular, or oval. Rocks were stacked with the larger ones near the bottom and smaller ones on top, and the walls were not faced. The corrals constructed in the various areas were substantial and took time and effort. The majority were single-space enclosures, although partitioned corrals have also been identified. Machine-cut square iron nails (manufactured between 1860 and 1884) have been commonly found within and around the corrals. The settlements made efficient use of available resources within a localized area while providing a safe haven within a controlled pasturage for people and sheep.
Anglo-American cattle ranchers also recognized the value of the vast grasslands, which they used first as open range and then, by 1881, controlled with land titles and barbed-wire fencing. Restrictions on free range, several harsh winters, and a general atmosphere of distrust and dislike between the sheepherders and cattlemen led to a rapid decline of pastores settlements in the region. By 1887 all the plazas were abandoned and most pastores had returned to New Mexico.
During their short tenure on the western Texas Plains, the pastores were always in transition–from seasonal use to permanent settlement to withdrawal from the region. Abandonment was not only quick but also unexpected, brought about by changes over which the pastores had no control. Their influence on the regional culture is neither fully understood nor appreciated. Nevertheless, the pastores' brief presence left its mark on the landscape of the region and influenced early settlement patterns. Plazas became town sites and corrals and camps provided an infrastructure for European American reuse and settlement of the region.