Hueco TanksBrochure |
Interpretive Guide of Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site (SP) in Texas. Published by Texas Parks & Wildlife.
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INTERPRETIVE GUIDE
HUECO
TANKS
At Hueco Tanks, visitors are surrounded by the vestiges of
thousands of years of human history and millions of years of
natural history. While enjoying your visit:
• Stay on trails when hiking to protect habitat and archeology.
• Leave pictographs and artifacts untouched. Doing so may help
us solve the mysteries of the past.
• Respect plants, animals and geologic features, which together
form the site’s unique ecosystem and are protected by law.
• Properly dispose of or pack out your trash. Recycling
containers are located near the Interpretive Center.
STATE PARK AND
HISTORIC SITE
FURTHER READING
THE FORMATIONS OF HUECO TANKS
STATE HISTORIC SITE RISE ABOVE
THE CHIHUAHUAN DESERT FLOOR
TO MARK AN OASIS OF NATURE AND
CULTURE. DUE TO ITS GEOLOGY,
RELATIVELY ABUNDANT WATER,
AND UNUSUAL STRUCTURE, HUECO
TANKS HAS SERVED AS A REFUGE
FOR PLANTS, ANIMALS AND PEOPLE
FOR OVER 10,000 YEARS. THOUSANDS
OF
PICTOGRAPHS
LEFT
BY PREHISTORIC AND HISTORIC
NATIVE AMERICANS ARE TESTA-
Kirkland, Forrest and W.W. Newcomb, Jr., The Rock Art of Texas
Indians. Austin, University of Texas Press, 1967.
Sutherland, Kay, Rock Paintings at Hueco Tanks State Historical
Park. Austin, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1995.
Hueco Tanks holds meaning for
diverse groups of visitors.
Hiking, picnicking, rockclimbing, camping, interpretive
tours, birding and annual special
events are among the available
activities. The site also continues
to be used for traditional Native
American cultural activities and
performances. Visitors should
call ahead to learn more about
access policies, activities and
volunteer opportunities. For
information, contact:
Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site
6900 Hueco Tanks Road #1, El Paso, Texas 79938
(915) 857-1135 • www.tpwd.texas.gov/huecotanks
MENT TO THE LIFE-SUSTAINING
Proud Sponsor of Texas Parks
and Wildlife Programs
© 2018 TPWD. PWD BR P4501-095 (7/18)
In accordance with Texas State Depository Law, this publication is available at
the Texas State Publications Clearinghouse and/or Texas Depository Libraries.
TPWD receives funds from the USFWS. TPWD prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, and gender,
pursuant to state and federal law. To request an accommodation or obtain information in an alternative format, please contact TPWD on a Text Telephone
(TDD) at (512) 389-8915 or by Relay Texas at 7-1-1 or (800) 735-2989. If you believe you have been discriminated against by TPWD, please contact
TPWD or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office for Diversity and Workforce Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041.
Texas State Parks is a division of the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
TPWD
POWER OF HUECO TANKS.
T A N K S
S T A T E
P A R K
A N D
H I S T O R I C
S I T E
RAINWATER AND ROCK
THE JORNADA MOGOLLON
The rock we see at Hueco Tanks formed beneath the
earth’s surface 34 million years ago, as magma pushed up
into an older limestone formation and then cooled. Over
millennia, weathering processes eroded the overlying
limestone and sculpted the now-exposed igneous rock
into its present form. Hollows (huecos) and fracture
patterns in the massive granite-like formations capture
or direct precious rainfall to establish a relatively moist
environment. The rock also provides shelter, shade and
pockets of fertile soil to create “microhabitats” that
support a diversity of living things. Arizona white oak
and rose-fruited juniper, typically found at higher
elevations, thrive here. Moisture-seeking cottonwood
and willow coexist with desert-adapted creosotebush
and mesquite, while huecos and seasonal ponds support
freshwater shrimp. The only known U.S. population
of Erect Colubrina, a shrub of the buckthorn family,
occurs in a protected alcove at Hueco Tanks.
With the advent of domesticated crops
such as corn, beans and squash, people
began to settle more permanently. By
1150 the Jornada Mogollon built a small
cluster of pithouse structures at Hueco
Tanks. Pottery shards, stone tools,
bedrock mortars and prehistoric water
control features provide clues about this
early agricultural way of life. Animals,
birds, and large-eyed figures that may
represent rain or storm deities are part of
the Jornada Mogollon pictograph style.
The most renowned images are pictograph “masks” or face
designs scattered throughout the park. Numbering more than
200, they represent the largest assemblage of painted masks
in North America. These intriguing images are a direct yet
cryptic communication from people of the past.
ARCHAIC HUNTERS
AND GATHERERS
For thousands of years following the
end of the Pleistocene ice age
approximately 10,000 years
ago, hunter-gatherers traveled across the landscape in
pursuit of game. They also
gathered wild plants for use
as food, fiber and medicine.
Today, visitors can still see
the hunting scenes
and the groups of
geometric designs
they painted on
the rock.
HISTORIC
PERIOD
Even after the arrival
of the Spanish, Hueco
Tanks remained a landmark for indigenous
people and traveling
newcomers. Within its
rock enclosures, many
satisfied their thirst and
found sanctuary, although legends tell of others who arrived
only to lose their lives. The Kiowa, Mescalero Apache and
Tigua are among the groups of Native Americans who used
Hueco Tanks historically and consider it a meaningful part
of their past and present heritage. Pictographs of handprints,
dancing figures, horses, weapons and human figures in
European-style clothing represent important images in historic
Native American lore – images that presumably represent
stories of celebration, tradition, conflict and change.
© Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
H U E C O
Butterfield Stage with an extra backseat, which was unusual
for this type of conveyance between St. Louis and San Diego.
THE BUTTERFIELD
OVERLAND MAIL
The Butterfield Overland Mail began operation in 1858
to blaze a trail between St. Louis and San Francisco.
For the first time, reliable communication was possible
between people separated by nearly 2,000 miles of
undeveloped wilderness. Attractive water resources
made Hueco Tanks the choice for a relay station until
August 1859, when a southern route passing through
Fort Stockton and Fort Davis became more practical.
THE ESCONTRIAS RANCH
By 1898, Silverio Escontrias and his family had settled
at Hueco Tanks and built an adobe home. For over half
a century the family operated a large ranch, of which the
land now known as Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site was only a small part. The adventures and
realities of the “real cowboy days of El Paso” are a legacy
of the ranch and the Escontrias family. Patriarch Silverio
Escontrias became an important community leader in El
Paso County and Socorro. The adobe ranch residence
now houses the Interpretive Center at Hueco Tanks.