Texas Creek’s beginning can be traced in the early 1800’s. This era was the heyday of the cattle industry. Texas Creek got its name by two cattlemen, Joe Lamb and Nat Rich. They were taking a herd of longhorn Texas steers to California Gulch to be sold for meat. On their long, rugged journey to California, the two decided to camp by a creek that joined the Arkansas River. During the night, the herd was startled by a mountain lion and stampeded through out the creek. Some of the herd was never found. After their ordeal, Joe Lamb and Nat Rich named the creek “Texas Creek.”

A blast from the past: This is a “Then and Now” look south across the Arkansas River at what is now Journey Quest’s raft launch at Texas Creek. At one time a very large railroad bridge crossed the river here. The railroad then made a switchback around the hill in the center of the photo to gain the altitude needed to make the climb to Westcliffe, 26 miles south. Video courtesy of Then and Now, Images of Colorado and the West.