DAVIS MOUNTAINS

segment of the southern Rocky Mountains, mainly in Jeff Davis County, western Texas, U.S., extending northward for 45 mi (72 km) above the town of Marfa. Many peaks exceed 7,000 ft (2,100 m), culminating at Mt. Livermore (8,382 ft; also called Mt. Baldy, or Baldy Peak), the second highest point in Texas. The village of Fort Davis (alt 5,050 ft and the highest community in Texas) is a tourist base for the scenic Davis Mountains State Park, Mt. Locke (site of McDonald Observatory, with one of the world's largest reflector telescopes), and Fort Davis National Historic Site (established in 1854 and named for Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, a key defense post against Comanche and Apache raids along the Overland Trail).