Gandara, J. F. Signal Mountain. ca. 1927. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2006686279/.
In a class discussion, ask students what features they notice about the mountain and its surroundings. Ask where mountains are located—because many will not know Texas has mountains. Ask which features of the mountain suggest how it would impact travel, communication, and housing.
Signal Mountain located in West Texas likely received its name because it was used by native peoples, the military, and ranchers to send signals. It is the highest point in Texas.
Source: https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3c36886/
- What features stand out most in the image?
- What does this image suggest about life in or near the mountain?
- What colors, shapes, or textures do you see?
- How might modern technology (drones, satellite imagery, social media) change the way Signal Mountain would be documented today compared to 1927?
- How did Signal Mountain serve as a landmark and a communication tool in early 20th-century Texas?
- What other natural landmarks were used as communication tools?
ELA Standard
7.5F. Comprehension. Make inferences and use evidence to support understanding.
Social Studies Standard
7.8A. Geography. Locate and compare the Mountains and Basins, Great Plains, North Central Plains, and Coastal Plains regions.
Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
- Opening discussion question: Why would this mountain be important to early settlers and the military?
- Students will do a Think-Pair-Share to answer: What challenges might people have faced while living or traveling through the area?
- Students create a journal entry from the perspective of a cowboy or a mail carrier and include the following in their response:
- The significance of seeing Signal Mountain
- The terrain of Texas and how it has affected their journey
- Animals, people, and weather they run into across their journey
- Students will then trade journal entries and make revision comments based on the list above before revising and submitting a final copy.
- Lesson conclusion/exit ticket: How has modern technology eliminated the need for landmarks like Signal Mountain? What do you think a modern need for Signal Mountain is today?
- Follow up research can include:
- Examine another geographic landmark of Texas to compare how each impacted life in the early 20th-century and today.
- Students will include the name of the landform, how it impacts people's ability to live, trade, or communicate, and is it still important today.
- Do they see a connection to any story/poem they have read throughout the year?
- Additional resources for this lesson include:
- Texas Through Time provides key information on the mountain along with color photos. It explains the limestone formation and how it is the highest point in Texas.
- Signal Mountain is located in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. This brief article from the Texas State Historical Association provides a history lesson on the mountain that includes the formation, what lives on the mountain, and how it was used.
Middleton, Wallace & Co. Guadalupe Mountains, near El Paso, Texas, viewed from the east / Middleton, Wallace & Co., Cincinnati, O. 1856. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/90705838.