families, leading many to flee south of the Rio Grande. By the time the dust had settled, the salt flats had been claimed and local residents were forced to pay for the salt that for centuries had been free. By the early decades of the 20th century, an all-weather road had been constructed between El Paso and Carlsbad, New Mexico. Commissioned in 1928 as U.S. Highway 62, the road brought a new generation of visitors to the area, particularly after the opening of nearby Carlsbad Caverns National Park in 1930. Decades before the creation of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, travelers by car and bus were already stopping at roadside rest stops to marvel at the sheer sides of El Capitan, take pictures, and write quick messages on the backs of postcards emblazoned with the mountain’s imposing face. During this period, the land that included El Capitan was owned by James Adolphus Williams, whose Williams Ranch house is still extant on park land west of the mountain. After several economic setbacks, Williams sold the land in 1941 to Judge J.C. Hunter of Van Horn, Texas, a prosperous oilman and early conservationist whose Guadalupe Mountains Ranch eventually included 75,000 acres of land in the Guadalupes, including parts of McKittrick Canyon. An early advocate for establishing a park to protect the southern Guadalupes, Hunter campaigned for several years until his death in 1945. Inheriting his father’s desire to see the area protected, both for its scenic beauty and geological significance, Hunter's son, J.C. Hunter, Jr., worked with officials of the National Park Service to construct a deal that would enable the Park Service to purchase the land for use as a national park. Forced to run a tortuous gauntlet of state and federal legislators, park officials, and road engineers, as well as property owners and local ranchers, the Hunter donation, which included El Capitan and Guadalupe Peak, was finally deeded over to the Park Service in 1969. Three years later, Guadalupe Mountains National Park was officially opened, allowing public access to the area. Access As previously noted, El Capitan is located within the boundaries of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, a fee-area located on U.S. Highway 62/180 between Carlsbad and El Paso. The southern terminus of the Guadalupe range, El Capitan is guarded by cliffs on three sides, and those faces are rarely climbed due to the unstable condition of the rock and the