The Staked Plains In Winter

The physical environment of the Staked Plains in autumn and winter is worth describing in detail, because the season was a critical factor in the military strategy and its consequences.

The Llano Estacado — the Staked Plains — is a high, flat tableland extending across eastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.

Its elevation — roughly 3,000 to 4,500 feet above sea level — means that its climate is significantly colder than the surrounding lower terrain.

Precipitation is limited — this is semi-arid country — but what precipitation falls in winter comes as snow and ice, driven by the northers that push cold air from the central plains southward across the Texas Panhandle.