| The old road from Crane to Imperial started about a mile or so west of Crane leaving the Crane-Grandfalls highway at an angle to the left. It started slightly west of the big two story Gib Cowden ranch house. At the time, this was a beautiful headquarters for the Cowden Ranch Company. This house has been moved to the City of Crane is on the truck route southeast of town. The road was not fenced. It was sandy and rocky all the way to the Pecos River close to Imperial. At the river there was an iron bridge with planks for crossing. I have heard that from a light plane flying over you can still see the route of the road. The only other way to Imperial, at the time, was by way of Grandfalls or McCamey. The old bridge was either washed away or demolished when the road was closed. Hunters, listen to this. Neal Cook and I used to go down this road hunting quail. Believe it or not, about every 50 to 100 yards, a big covey of blue quail would run across from the right. A few yards more and the same from the left. We would get out, shoot a couple, and go on to the next covey. This went on for miles. This was a quail hunter's paradise. Another thought, I remember the Pecos River being on flood stage and was 2 to 3 miles wide in that area. |