Geo Tex

I finally came up with this shot of the museum to make into our latest postcard.

Another design from the El Paso architectural firm of Trost and Trost, the Gage Hotel was built as an hotel and ranch headquarters for Alfred Gage, an early pioneer in Brewster County. Unfortunately, he died just as the hotel opened in 1928. After a period of neglect, the hotel was bought in 1928 by Houston oilman J.P. Bryan and his wife and restored and expanded. It includes a splendid restaurant, the Cafe Cenizo.

Another architectural gem by the Civilian Conservation Corps is the San Solomon Courts at Barlmorhea State Park, completed in 1935. The team then went up to the Davis Mountains State Park. I have not been able to discover who the architect was here, although I suspect Arthur Fehr. This style is Spanish revival.

Indian Lodge from below – the design is pueblo revival, something quite foreign to West Texas except though the work of architects like Henry Trost. The Civilian Conservation Corp, who built the lodge, employed its own architects, in this case Arthur F. Fehr, who also worked on restoring the San Antonio missions.

Blue Mountain (7,286 feet) stands at the head of Keesey Canyon in the Davis Mountains State Park just north of Fort Davis. Five flows of the Casket Mountain lava, 1,080 feet thick, make up the upper section of the mountain. The same lava also tops Casket Mountain on the other side of Limpia Canyon. At 35.3 million years old, it is one of the youngest lava flows in the Davis Mountains. The lower slopes are underlain by the Wild Cherry tuff that caps Paradise Mountain on the far right skyline and by unnamed tuffaceous sediments and mafic lavas.

Keesey Canyon is named for Whittaker Keesey, who came to Fort Davis in 1867 as a civilian baker to the Army. In 1873, he and his brother opened up a mercantile store in town and in 1874 built the attractive Union Mercantile Building that now houses the Jeff Davis County Library in Memorial Square.

The white Indian Lodge is in the lower right of the photograph. The pueblo-style lodge was built by companies 879 and 881 of the Civilian Conservation Corps between June and November 1933. The adobe bricks used in constructing the lodge were made on-site, and the timber was cottonwood cut in Keesey Canyon. Texas Parks and Wildlife recently spent some $4 million renovating the building, completing the final phase in 2006. The lodge has 39 rooms, a swimming pool and restaurant.

The Museum interior features a pterosaur model hanging from its roof – see Larry Francell’s description. Note the beautiful roof – an arched lamella truss roof. This building method was created for aircraft hangers during the World War One. It really is quite spectacular.

I spent some time at the Museum this morning. It is difficult to photograph because of its length and limited space in front. The attractive building was constructed in 1937 of the local Crossen volcanic trachyte rock that caps Hancock Hill behind the museum. The gift shop stocks our books and postcards. The director, Larry Francell, has written a comprehensive Texas State Historical Commission entry on its history.

Another view of Casa Grande from Chisos Mountains Lodge. The restaurant building is in the lower left corner. This photograph is also used in Big Bend Vistas.

The caption to the photograph in the book reads: “Casa Grande rises in wooded slopes to a tremendous square-topped monolith of bare rock with sheer, towering cliffs overlooking the visitor center some 2,000 feet below. The volcanic dome of Emory Peak Rhyolite capping the mountain is slow to erode, and forms solid cliffs. Below it, thinly layered Boot Rock surge deposits and air-fall tuffs erode more easily and form gentler slopes. A thin bed of Pine Canyon Rhyolite is near the base with Chisos tuffs below.
Vegetation on the lower slopes is mainly juniper, oak, and piñon, a combination found at higher elevations in many of the mountainous areas of the Trans-Pecos region. Some Douglas firs also grow on the upper slopes of the northeast side of the mountain.
Each of the volcanic domes on Casa Grande, Toll Mountain and Emory Peak lies above a volcanic vent and so each is an extinct volcano.”

One of my favorite Big Bend National Park photographs is this one of the mountains from the south. I have used it in Big Bend Vistas and the 2010 Mountains of the Big Bend Calendar.

Nugent Mountain is in front with the Chisos Mountains creating a panorama on the skyline behind it. South Rim (7,400 feet) is on the far left, with Emory Peak (7,835 feet) on the skyline to its right. Crown Mountain is just to the left of Nugent Mountain. Lost Mine Peak (7,535 feet) is to the right of Nugent Mountain. Pummel Peak (6,620 feet) is on the far right. Emory Peak, Lost Mine Peak and Pummel Peak are all extinct volcanoes.

Photographed from Mile 8.4 on the Boquillas Canyon road in Big Bend National Park.

Another favorite from Big Bend National Park and used in Big Bend Vistas and now as a postcard is this view of Casa Grande (7,325 feet) from the Tree Zone Exhibit at Mile 4.3 on the Basin road. The madrone tree, Arbutus xalapensis, on the right is one of several that grow in Green Gulch.

The cliffs on either side of the road are part of the enormous Chisos Pluton, a granitic intrusion. A half-mile ahead, the road goes through a narrow gap between jagged pinnacles of the pluton on both sides of the road.