Travelers on Interstate 20 east of Midland see it from dozens of miles away – a bluff rising 200 feet above the otherwise unbroken West Texas plains. The promontory has always been a landmark. Abundant springs once flowed at its base, and it was a destination for prehistoric bison-hunters, for Comanche raiding parties, and for the earliest westering settlers. 

Today, it presides over Big Spring, a city of 30,000. The rugged bluff, known as Scenic Mountain, is a treasured community resource. Big Spring State Park is a repository of West Texas history, landscape and wildlife.

Big Spring's identity as a “crossroads” community is woven into its history. It was a stop on the Gold Rus...