Named after nearby Fort Lancaster, it is one of the few natural fords on the Pecos River, otherwise known for its steep banks that made crossing difficult.
It was first used by the Native Americans of West Texas who crossed the Pecos on their way to and from raids on Mexico, discarding items taken from their captives at the site, giving it its early name of "Indian Ford."
The U. S. Army survey expedition of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph E. Johnston that established the San Antonio-El Paso Road in 1849 used the ford and established a ferry a mile upstream of the ford at Pecos Crossing, at a site that was used off and on for decades.
Were it not for the road that is cut through the bank and the tall grass that is flattened, you would be unable to discover that a river flowed here until within one or two feet of it.
[1] Today the ford lies just south of the Texas State Highway 290 bridge, which crosses the Pecos River southeast of Sheffield.