The legend and lore of Lajitas includes a colorful cast of characters from Pancho Villa and General John “BlackJack” Pershing to the present owner of the 25,000-acre private estate, Steve Smith. It is a land with mythical status where the dinosaurs roamed free and the ocean receded millions of years ago, leaving behind the dramatic mesas that define the Lajitas lanscape. Named by the Spanish for the flat, limestone rocks that formed the Rio Grande River bed, Lajitas still retains the awe-inspiring beauty all of these characters have been drawn to.