Sonora: The city with a cave

Tumbleweed Smith of Big Spring is a newspaper columnist and producer of The Sound of Texas radio series.

Courtesy Photo

I’ve done a lot of interviews in Sonora, the county seat of Sutton County.  I’ve done some historical reports on the city’s first electricity, first water, and first icehouse.  Other topics include interviews with goat and sheep ranchers, cowboys, historians, rattlesnake hunters, artists, athletes, musicians, and some colorful characters.  Still others are the courthouse designed by Oscar Ruffini, the Fling Ding, Wagon Theater, Outlaw Will Carver, and the Wild Game Dinner.  I even recorded Philip Cooper’s donkeys.  I really got deep into Sonora’s culture.

The city has wide streets and graceful shade trees and downtown buildings that give you the feeling of the old west. 

Residents make you feel welcome, and you get to experience real western hospitality.  Sonora has abundant and productive ranch land that early settlers called Cattleman’s Paradise.  The rugged terrain is crisscrossed by the Llano and Devil’s rivers. 

There is delicate and unsurpassed beauty underground at Sonora Caverns.  This National Natural Landmark is a few miles west of Sonora.  It’s a world-class cave because of its stunning array of calcite crystal formations. The Caverns of Sonora is internationally recognized as one of the most beautiful show caves on the planet.

I always thought the word Sonora sounded like a song.  The city is named for a servant from Sonora, Mexico.  He worked for Charlie Adams, a merchant and rancher who settled on four sections of land and offered free lots to prospective citizens.  The county was named for Confederate Colonel John S. Sutton, an Indian fighter. 

This is the home of mohair and where the Texas Goat and Sheep Raisers Association was formed.  The clear sky, enchanting vistas, and pleasing atmosphere were welcome sights to the Tonkawa, Apache, and Comanche, early residents of this land.  They were not the first.  Fossils around Sonora go back tens of thousands of years to a prehistoric culture. 

This is brush country, with mesquite, live oak, cedar and pecan trees.  There was a problem getting a railroad in Sonora, so a man bought nearly one hundred miles of right of way, fenced it with holding pens, water wells and windmills so ranchers could drive their cattle to the railroad in San Angelo. 

Wildlife in Sutton County is a big enterprise.  Hunters go after deer, turkey, fox, quail, and dove.  The pioneer heritage prevails today, and you can see it in the resident’s determination, commitment, and passion.  Sonora is a beautiful city with attractive neighborhoods.  And with three people per square mile, there’s plenty of breathing room.  I’ve always felt special going to Sonora. 

I’m making a speech in Sonora later this month.  I’m looking forward to a return visit to this fascinating city.