A Different Kind of Historical Evidence Saturday, July 11, 2009

Imagine all you had to go on to find the story of your ancestors was some rock paintings out in a remote area ....

We had the luck in May to visit a tightly controlled state park in West Texas, Hueco Tanks, just 32 miles Northeast of El Paso, Texas. This spot in the desert was known to be a stop along the Butterfield Stage Coach Route and is full of pictographs (rock paintings). (Photo at left from Wikipedia: Hueco Tanks)

From the Texas State Park Guide for Hueco Tanks State Historic Park and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) for Hueco Tanks: This site is named for the natural rock basins in its granite outcroppings that capture rainwater, a precious resource in the Chihuahuan Desert environment. For millennia, people seeking life-giving water and the diverse plants and animals that could be found here left curious and beautiful paintings on the rocks. Today this ancient site preserves more than 2,000 pictographs that are a wonder to behold. Because of the sensitive nature of the site, visitation is limited and reservations were required to hike there.

It was a high of 100 degrees, so we attempted the few hour guided tour that started early in the morning. The guide said we were lucky to come in May; apparently in summer, its possible to be covered with mosquitoes due to the Monsoon season (uck!).

Thank you to our hiking companion Judi for the great photos!