Fritz, et al.
The Texas Beyond History website also has a great exhibit on Hueco Tanks! It is a world class rock art site, first publicized in the book /The
Rock Art of Texas Indians/ (Kirkland and Newcomb, U.T. Press, 1967) . When I went back there on a project in 1999, TPWD had hired Evelyn Billo
and Robert Mark to take digital photographs of "all" the pictographs, and there are thousands of them hidden away under hollow boulders,
shelters, alcoves, you name it. Bob and Evelyn were staying in the same motel as our crew, and one night they excitedly called us to their room
to see some of the photos. Bob had decided to experiment with digital enhancement (when did PhotoShop come out?), and discovered that many of
the rock art panels suddenly exploded with images unseen by the proverbial naked eye. You can see some of the results on:
Texas Beyond History Hueco Tanks website
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/hueco/index.html
[you'll even see some old photos of Ron Ralph, Don Broussard, Steve Zeman &
Dino Lowrey (with the basin metate), and me]
and on the Rupestrian CyberServices website http://www.rupestrian.com/
Hueco Tanks is also a world class bouldering site, and therein lies the rub, quite literally. Thousands of boulderers from all over the world
were spending the winter there. Unfortunately, many of the pictographs are under overhangs and other places that are also the best places to
climb. Many of the pictographs are very difficult to see, and were being heavily impacted, not just by the boulderers, but by picnickers and
gang bangers from El Paso and elsewhere who were tagging the rocks with spray paint. The sparse vegetation in the protected areas was also
being wiped out. A classic problem with parks: balancing the recreational opportunities with the cultural and natural resources. Something
cavers can certainly understand, with fragile caves such as Lechuguilla, Caverns of Sonora, etc. So there were contentious public hearings and
angry letters to the editors from both sides. TPWD finally had to limit the number of people who could be in the park at any one time, and
restrict or prohibit access to some of the more sensitive areas.
After the news came out about Bob & Evelyn's work, I remember seeing a post on one of the climbing websites that said something like: "Oh
great, now they're telling us we can't climb in places where there's rock art you can't even see! Reminds me of the current debates about how
to deal with WNS. No easy answers.
Hueco Tanks is a magical place. If you're ever traveling to the El Paso area, Carlsbad, or the Guads, it's worth a stop. Best to contact TPWD
first to make reservations.
Logan
On 1/21/2011 2:40 PM, Fritz Holt wrote:
While stationed at Ft. Bliss during the winter and spring of 1956 a civilian kid I met somewhere who had outdoor interests said he would show me
something cool. The clear spring day was perfect for such a venture. We drove a few miles east of El Paso and made a left turn off of the
highway onto a dirt and caliche road. If there was a fence or gate I don't remember it. A short drive took us on the north side of a range of
low mountains and cliffs. We climbed around for probably three or four hours looking in the many shelter caves and crevasses. The ancient and
colorful rock art was totally fascinating as were the rock formations themselves. Of course, there was also graffiti, some of it from the
previous century. There was not another soul at this wondrous place known as Hueco Tanks, but possibly a few ancient spirits.
Fritz, reliving the early years.
