The Geologic Story of Palo Duro Canyon

PARK HISTORY

Palo Duro Canyon’s long and colorful past has created considerable interest among historians, archeologists, and geologists. Historians have traced the written history of man and his effect on the Palo Duro area, but archeologists have delved much further into the past. They have sought out and studied the more enduring records of the canyon’s early inhabitants—their tools, utensils, and weapons. The geologist, however, is interested in history that far antedates even the most primitive human inhabitant of the canyon. The earth scientist has probed the geologic record of the Palo Duro area, using rocks, minerals, and fossils as clues to the geologic history and development of the canyon.

Palo Duro Canyon is unique among Texas’ State parks because of its many contributions to history, archeology, and geology. Here the written record, the artifacts of prehistoric man, and the geologic formations overlap and complement each other in many respects. Although this guidebook is primarily concerned with the geologic history of the canyon, a brief review of its human history is also included.

ANCIENT MAN IN PALO DURO CANYON

Archeological studies indicate that the earliest known inhabitants of Palo Duro Canyon lived in the canyon from about 10,000 to 5,000 B.C. These early men apparently hunted the bison and now-extinct elephant-like mammoths that roamed the Palo Duro area during the Ice Age of Pleistocene time (see geologic time scale, fig. 6). Their stone weapons and other artifacts have been found in and around the canyon. It is assumed that these primitive people—like those who came later—were attracted by the streams and springs that are found in the canyon and by game that came there to feed. There is also evidence that the Indians took advantage of certain of the canyon’s geologic features. They fashioned tools, weapons, and utensils from the rocks exposed in the canyon and used certain of the shallow caves and rock shelters as their homes.

INDIANS OF THE PLAINS

Various tribes of Plains Indians of historic times also used Palo Duro Canyon as a camping ground. The presence of these Indians is known from many campsites and burials. In addition, flint chips and stone artifacts, potsherds, ornaments of shell and bone, grinding slabs, stone mortars (fig. 15), and a few pictographs (fig. 3) have provided considerable information about the culture of these people. Among the tribes believed to have frequented the canyon at various times are the Apaches, Cheyennes, Arapahos, Kiowas, and Comanches. However, it is the Comanches who are most closely associated with the Palo Duro area, for the canyon is located near the center of their last homeland. Indeed it was here that the Comanches were finally defeated and driven from this part of the Plains. The battlefield where Colonel Ranald Mackenzie’s troops fought the Comanches is located near the southeast corner of the park (see fig. 7). This skirmish, which took place in 1874, is believed to have been the last major Indian battle in Texas.

Although most of the canyon’s archeological sites have been picked over and many of the artifacts removed, important finds are still occasionally reported. Park visitors who make discoveries of this type are urged to report them to a park ranger in order that they might be called to the attention of the proper authorities.

ADVENT OF THE WHITE MAN

Although the history of Palo Duro Canyon is rich in Indian lore, it was the coming of the white man that heralded the development of the area. Today it is generally believed that Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was the first white man to view the canyon. Coronado and his men are thought to have camped here during the winter of 1541, as they crossed the High Plains in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.

Fig. 2. Place map of Palo Duro Canyon.

Later, during the 17th and 18th centuries, the canyon was a favorite resting place of the buffalo hunters and Indian traders who frequented the Plains. The canyon was also popular during the first half of the 19th century, for it was then that it was occupied by the Comanches and served as a trade center for the Spaniards and Indians who came from New Mexico. These traders, called comancheros, bartered for loot taken by the Comanches on their raids of early settlements and wagon trains that passed through the Panhandle-Plains region.

This same era marked the beginning of American interest in the Palo Duro country. During this period the area was visited by several expeditions including those of Long and Pike and the Texas-Santa Fe Expedition of 1841. However, the canyon was not fully explored or mapped until 1852. This important survey was carried out by a party which was under the supervision of Captain R. B. Marcy.

But it was not until 1876 that the first white man established permanent residence in Palo Duro Canyon. In 1876—just two years after McKenzie’s rout of the Comanches—Colonel Charles Goodnight herded more than 1,600 head of cattle into the canyon. Here he laid out his first permanent ranch and lived in a primitive earthen dugout. Not only was Goodnight’s Palo Duro Ranch the first in the canyon, it is also thought to have been the first commercial cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle. In later years Colonel Goodnight formed a partnership with John Adair of Ireland, and together they developed the famous JA Ranch—a vast spread of some 600,000 acres. Today’s visitor to Palo Duro Canyon can visit a partially restored dugout similar to that occupied by the canyon’s early settlers (fig. 30).

Fig. 3. The face carved on this boulder can be seen along the track of the Sad Monkey Railroad (p. 35). It is believed to have been carved by Indians.

Fig. 4. The war bonnet, war lance, and head feathers of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker can be seen at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon. (Photograph courtesy Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.)

From the late 1800s until about 1930, the Palo Duro country remained the domain of the Panhandle-Plains cattleman. It was, nonetheless, a favorite picnic and camping spot of the residents of nearby towns and cities. In 1933 the recreational potential of the canyon was finally recognized and land for the Palo Duro Canyon State Park was purchased by the State of Texas with money obtained through a public revenue bond issue. Today, most of the park revenue received through gate admissions, concession receipts, and mineral leases goes into a fund that pays off the remaining balance of the revenue bonds. During the initial phase of the park’s development, most of the improvements in the area were made by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps who worked under the supervision of the National Park Service.

Currently, Palo Duro Canyon State Park is visited by approximately 300,000 visitors each year and is one of the State’s more popular recreational and scenic areas.

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