From there, the 6 a.m. bus headed north on Texas Highway 118 to Alpine High School, another 85 miles. It was like living in Dallas and going to school in Waco. Some 22 high school students watched the sun come up over the Santiago Mountains to the east each morning as their bus climbed more than 2,300 feet through the desert landscape to Alpine, at an elevation of 4,481 feet. After school, they didn't have the luxury of attending meetings of the Latin Club, participating in the school choir, or practicing with the football team. Then, another slow drive along Ranch Road 170 to Lajitas.
Most kids just quit.
Big Bend National Park to the east paid local property taxes. Students had the option of going to school in Terlingua until the 8th grade or, if their parents worked in the national park, attending San Vicente Elementary near the park's headquarters. Some families found the trip too daunting and made arrangements for one parent to rent an apartment in Alpine for the school year, coming home with their high schoolers on weekends. Others sent their teenagers to live with relatives in Fort Stockton, Van Horn, or Odessa. Many families just gave up.