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What is Terlingua?
On this Web site we are discovering a society that we find it convenient to call Old Terlingua, or Greater Terlingua and we see it as being the general area of south Brewster County and Presidio Counties and into the neighboring area in Mexico. The border areas of Presidio and Brewster counties, include the area where the Conchos River from Mexico joins with the Rio Grande (known as the Rio Bravo in Mexico) that has long been known as Junta de los Rios with a history going back thousands of years.
Old Terlingua or Greater Terlingua includes a lot of locations all with their own place names. But this whole area has been one society. We see that society including both sides of the Mexican border and the Big Bend Park. So by Old Terlingua we don't mean a geographical place designation, but the name of a society. However there is a place -- or places -- called Terlingua. What is Terlingua?
Old Terlingua or Greater Terlingua includes a lot of locations all with their own place names. But this whole area has been one society. We see that society including both sides of the Mexican border and the Big Bend Park. So by Old Terlingua we don't mean a geographical place designation, but the name of a society. However there is a place -- or places -- called Terlingua. What is Terlingua?
The original Terlingua, according to Bob Wirt, "was a farming community along Terlingua Creek about 2 miles upstream from Santa Elena Canyon. When I ask people who lived there about where they lived, they frequently answer "Terlingua", because to them that was the original Terlingua. The miners stole the name and renamed the farming community Terlingua de Abajo ("Lower Terlingua" also occasionally referred to as Terlingua Vieja).
The name "Terlingua" to designate a specific place has had its own interesting history. There are at least three places that at one time were called "Terlingua" and it has to do with the moving location of the post office. we learn about what was "Terlingua" from Bob Wirt's post on June 23, 2010 in Familias de Terlingua section: Discuss Any Family. Click here to read it.
Bob tells us that Terlingua is “… a farming community along Terlingua Creek about 2 miles upstream from Santa Elena Canyon. When I ask people who lived there about where they lived, they frequently answer "Terlingua," because to them that was the original Terlingua. The miners stole the name and renamed the farming community Terlingua de Abajo (also occasionally referred to as Terlingua Vieja). To confuse the issue even more, the whole area (including Terlingua, Terlingua de Abajo, Castolón, Study Butte, Lajitas) was often referred to as Terlingua because that is where the post office was most of the time.”
Note that "Terlingua Abajo" means "Lower Terlingua" which makes sense since the name was appropriated by the miners further north. For some reason the name is sometimes written as "Terlingua Abaja" which makes no sense if you speak Spanish since that means "Terlingua Descends." It may be that since Spanish nouns have gender and usually end in the letter "a" if they are feminine and adjectives have to agree in gender with the nouns they modify it might seem that Abajo should be Abaja to agree in gender with Terlingua. This is often the case but deeper knowledge of Spanish reveals that it is not always the case. Spanish is derived mainly from Latin but there is a some influence of Greek as well.
Bob tells us that Terlingua is “… a farming community along Terlingua Creek about 2 miles upstream from Santa Elena Canyon. When I ask people who lived there about where they lived, they frequently answer "Terlingua," because to them that was the original Terlingua. The miners stole the name and renamed the farming community Terlingua de Abajo (also occasionally referred to as Terlingua Vieja). To confuse the issue even more, the whole area (including Terlingua, Terlingua de Abajo, Castolón, Study Butte, Lajitas) was often referred to as Terlingua because that is where the post office was most of the time.”
Note that "Terlingua Abajo" means "Lower Terlingua" which makes sense since the name was appropriated by the miners further north. For some reason the name is sometimes written as "Terlingua Abaja" which makes no sense if you speak Spanish since that means "Terlingua Descends." It may be that since Spanish nouns have gender and usually end in the letter "a" if they are feminine and adjectives have to agree in gender with the nouns they modify it might seem that Abajo should be Abaja to agree in gender with Terlingua. This is often the case but deeper knowledge of Spanish reveals that it is not always the case. Spanish is derived mainly from Latin but there is a some influence of Greek as well.
Terlingua Abajo
