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During Mel.'s Spring Break, 2005, we took a driving tour of far west Texas. We've been back on numerous occasions
to the pictograph and petroglyph sites west of Del Rio, Texas.
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| Hueco Tanks |
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| Hueco Tanks State Park, El Paso, Texas |
The contrast between the hard, blocky igneous rock of the tanks with the chalky, layered sedimentary rocks
of the surrounding hills may have been what made the Native Americans regard this formation as a sacred place. Their
pictographs are preserved in isolated areas of this Texas State Park, but in many places has been destroyed by 19th and 20th
century graffiti.
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| El Capitain |
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| El Capitain Reef, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas |
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Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in Texas at over 8750 feet, but it was formed as a coral reef under
the inland sea in the age of the dinosaurs. El Capitain Reef is the eroded face of that reef showing where the sea floor
sloped down to the deeper sea. Carlsbad Caverns National Park just northeast is part of the same limestone reef formation.
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| Guadalupe Peak |
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| Guadalupe Peak, El Capitain, and the Salt Flats to their west |
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Big Bend National Park showcases some of the most spectacular natural vistas in Texas. The Rio Grande
has carved huge canyons through the uplifted sedimentary and igneous rocks of this region. Pictured here is the lower
end of Santa Elena Canyon. The cliffs on the left are in Mexico; the ones on the right side are in Texas.
| Santa Elena Canyon |
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| Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend National Park, Texas |
| Langtry 2 |
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| Langtry Texas, October 2006 |
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The Law West of the Pecos
Judge Roy Bean (yes, he was real) built his Saloon, Opera House, and home here at Langtry, Texas.
The place was named in honor of Miss Lily Langtry of London, England, whom Judge Bean admired. Though Bean frequently
invited her to perform at his Opera House, she always declined.
The State of Texas now has an interpretive center and tourist rest area on the site of this near ghost town.
It is a great place to stop if you are traveling on US 90 between El Paso and Del Rio.
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| Langtry 4 |
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| Langtry, Texas, October 2006 |
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| Rock Shelters East of Langtry |
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| Langtry, Texas, October 28, 2006 |
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