"War Practice" with Outlands

[Chuck Graves]

>I don't know if this is already common knowledge, but the term "staked 
>plains" is period, as is New Mexico's "Land of Enchantment" (Los Planos 
>Estacadas and Tierra Encantada).  Bear in mind that these weren't flowery 
>tourist phrases; the Spaniards thought the place was haunted, or at least 
>Damn Spooky.  When one expedition first saw the yucca-covered plains 
>there, legend has it that they thought for a moment that Someone or 
>Something had driven hundreds of thousands of stakes into the ground 
>before them (the stems of the yucca blooms).  A cute story, if nothing 
>else.
     
Close but a perhaps a little off.  The "Staked Plains" are Llano Estacado (look 
for the fine wines of the same name).

The name was derived from Coronado's trip through the region.  He had tall 
stakes driven into the plains as they advanced to serve as navigational points. 
They feared they would lose their way in the vast expanses of the High Plains.

Tadhg
(recounting the myths of my youth)