Day Trips: Perky Breast Mountain, Bakersfield
Distinctive peak outside of Bakersfield has guided travelers for centuries
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., Jan. 29, 2016
"Perky Breast Mountain," 1.5 miles west of Bakersfield in far West Texas, has been a prominent landmark for travelers long before I-10 was built a short way south of the peak.
I nicknamed the conical hill with a distinctive nipple-like top long before I discovered it has the historic and somewhat less politically correct moniker of Squawteat Peak. It turns out that the rock formation on the long road between San Antonio and El Paso has been a memorable landmark for thousands of years.
The 300-foot limestone peak is not open to the public, but archaeologists from TxDOT have found evidence that it was a gathering place of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. On the desert surrounding the formation were found 14 circular rock bases of wickiups or teepees, a rare occurrence in Texas. The site also contains burned rock middens, or cooking pits, which were used over many years.
As traffic on the interstate highway snakes past the memorable peak, it's hard to believe that prehistoric people once gathered in this barren place over perhaps thousands of years. Scientists are unable to determine if they came for the nearby deposit of chert, used to make stone tools, because of the unique rock formation or for some other reason.
If you're looking for a unique and very politically incorrect gift, the Exxon station in the ghost town of Bakersfield sells caps honoring the peak. For a scientific description of the peak, see www.texasbeyondhistory.net/trans-p/images/ap8.html.
1,279th in a series. Collect them all. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips," is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 40312, South Austin, TX 78704.
