Pope's Crossing
Orla
Reeves County, Texas
31 56.704' N 103 59.578' W
Directions: Start at the intersection of CR-453 and SH-285. The marker is on the southeast corner of the intersection.
Tex: Used by emigrants and the Southern (Butterfield) Overland Mail which linked St. Louis and San Francisco with semi-weekly mail, 1858-1861. Headquarters in 1855 of Captain John Pope, supervisor of the drilling of the first deep well west of the 98th meridian. They struck water at 244 feet but sank to 1140 hoping to strike artesian flow. The well caved before its value could be determined. This $100,000 experiment pointed the way to deep well drilling in the Great Plains.