Search For Spanish Trail
11 08 2008Naturist Jeff Perkins, a Beck’s Lake Road resident, led Larry Walker on a mid-summer 2008 search for remnants of the original Spanish Trail on property bought by ECUA for the new Central Water Reclamation Facility (CWRF). After a rough ride in Jeff’s tough Jeep and fording a clear creek on foot, Jeff and Larry found what Jeff believes to be a remnant of the Spanish Trail that led from the area of Pensacola northward into what is now Alabama.
Traces of the trail appear to be evident in the form of depressions with ancient-looking clay walls. In one photo, Jeff sits on a clay wall of a narrow depression that may have been a shortcut for thirsty travellers to reach a creek (in background of photo). Unfortunately, logging trucks had made recent use of what might have been remnants of the trail itself, obliterating most signs of the old trail.
If clear and substantial signs of the Spanish Trail had been evident, Larry intended to see to the preservation of the trail remnant as ECUA develops the CWRF property. It was Jeff and Larry’s opinion, unfortunately, that the logging trucks had left too little to preserve.
