"Carlson writes well in a style that lends itself to an understanding of how man got to the high plains, and what he did once he arrived. Highly recommended reading." New Mexico Historical NotebookHumans have visited the Texas High Plains, and in particular the upper Brazos River region, for nearly twelve thousand years. At the site of the Lubbock Lake Landmark in the long Yellow House Draw, they camped, hunted game, and sought shelter from harsh winter weather.In this brief, readable history, Paul H. Carlson surveys the Lubbock Lake Landmark s long geologic past, placing emphasis on human...

"Carlson writes well in a style that lends itself to an understanding of how man got to the high plains, and what he did once he arrived. Highly recommended reading." New Mexico Historical NotebookHumans have visited the Texas High Plains, and in particular the upper Brazos River region, for nearly twelve thousand years. At the site of the Lubbock Lake Landmark in the long Yellow House Draw, they camped, hunted game, and sought shelter from harsh winter weather.In this brief, readable history, Paul H. Carlson surveys the Lubbock Lake Landmark s long geologic past, placing emphasis on human...

A natural history of this pig-like animal the only peccary species native to the United States which is as much a part of the Southwestern landscape as the roadrunner, armadillo, and horned lizardThe javelina, or collared peccary, is the only peccary species native to the United States and is as much a part of the Southwestern landscape as the roadrunner, armadillo, and horned lizard. Its name is likely derived from the Spanish word for javelin, referring to the animal s sharp tusks.Javelinas are mentioned in documents dating back to the seventeenth century, when their range was somewhat...

As Capt. Lorenzo Sitgreaves set out in 1851 to explore the southern portion of the Four Corners region (won in the recent war with Mexico), his party included Dr. Samuel Woodhouse, a thirty-year-old physician and naturalist who kept a journal of their travels from New York to California. Woodhouse recorded three weeks in San Antonio, made daily entries across the Trans-Pecos, and, after a hiatus in Santa Fe, resumed his journal on the march to Zuni Pueblo. Midway into their three weeks at Zuni, he nearly died from a rattlesnake bite and was scarcely recovered when the explorers again started...

A showcase of Texas heritage quilts, through words and images

Recounted in Spanish and in English translation, these tales of sorcerers, fiendish witches, La Llorona, the vanishing hitchhiker, ghostly apparitions, and balls of fire will fascinate and spook readers of all ages and background. The sixty-four narrators in Brujerias range in age from seventeen to ninety-eight years old. Their stories come from a variety of Southwestern states as well as Latin America and demonstrate how the magical world of witchcraft and the supernatural connects Spain to Latin America and Latin America to North America. This rich tradition of supernatural tales...

Picturing a Different West addresses Willa Cather and Mary Austin as central figures in a women s tradition of the pictured West. Both Cather and Austin moved west in their youth and spent much of their lives there. Cather lived on the Great Plains, while Austin resided in California and the Southwest. Cather s travels repeatedly took her to the Southwest, and she wrote three novels with Southwestern settings.Starting with the masculine tradition of Western art that was prevalent when Austin and Cather launched their careers, Janis P. Stout shows how the authors challenged and revised that...

One hundred thirty-two species, subspecies, and varieties of cacti may be found in Texas. About one hundred of them occur in the state s Trans-Pecos region, one of the most cactus-rich areas of the United States, but at least one kind can be found in every county of the state. This volume is an identification guide to the genera, species, and varieties of Texas cacti, with maps showing the distribution of each.Based on the comprehensive reference Cacti of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Regions (2004), by A. Michael Powell and James F. Weedin, this field guide provides briefer, less detailed...

Plant life in Big Bend National Park is incredibly diverse. The wide range of habitats within the park desert, foothills, mountains and moist woodlands, river canyons and floodplain as well as the Big Bend s three major blooming seasons of spring, summer, and fall guarantee a stunning show of botanical variety throughout the year. Little Big Bend is not a traditional guide to the area s common plants. Although it features many species that are characteristic of the Chihuahuan Desert environment, species such as orchids are also included precisely because they are uncommon or rare and...

Travel just about anywhere in the southern United States, and you will find pecan trees. The nut too hard to crack by hand the derivation of the pecans Algonquian name is one of the most successful native agricultural crops of North America. This title explores the natural history, cultivation, and uses of the pecan tree and nut.