Presidio County Research Articles

Excavations at the Polvo Site in Western Texas

In the Summer of 1949 an archaeological; field group, sponsored by the University of Texas, excavated a large house structure at the Polvo site (57D2-3) in western Texas. The previous summer J. Charles Kelley had excavated 2 structures at this site, which he reported in 1949. The site itself he identified as a component of the Bravo Valley aspect.The Polvo site is located in southern Presidio County, Texas, some 8 miles south of the junction of the Rio Grande and the Rio Conchos, in what is referred to as the “La Junta” region of the Big Bend. The site lies about one mile to the southwest of the modern village of Redford, at the edge of the old Mexican pueblito Polvo. Physiographically, the site is located in the Redford Vajley, through which the Rio Grande flows into the Canon Colorado. Midway in the valley, an arroyo, known locally as the Arroyo Bayo Nuevo, enters the river.

Developments in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico in 1952

Development during 1952 followed the upward trend of the past years. A total of 1,039 exploratory tests and 4,640 development tests resulted in 110 new-field discoveries. During 1951, there were 105 new-field discoveries or 5 per cent less than in 1952. Although the figures show, statistically, that 1952 was a more successful year than 1951, the estimated barrels of new oil reserves credited to discoveries during 1951 were greater than new oil reserves credited to fields discovered during 1952. Spraberry development, which spotlighted the 1951 activity, was of secondary importance during 1952. The greatest number of new-field discoveries were located on the Northwestern shelf and Central Basin platform in New Mexico, and the Central Basin platform, Midland basin, and Eastern shelf in West Texas. Runnels County reported the greatest number of Pennsylvanian discoveries. The increase in the use of subsurface geology is evidenced by the increase in the number of geologists engaged in that type of work. The success of this method is shown by the 47 new discoveries credited to this type of work. Seismograph activity also increased and 46 new discoveries were credited to that method of exploration. The use of gravity mapping showed an 87 per cent increase in 1952 over the previous year. Keen competition for leases, in the more closely developed areas, caused land owners to decrease the length of time for new leases from 10 to 5 years, and in some areas, oil payments and over-rides were also given. This forced some of the operators into outlying areas, such as Reeves, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Brewster, and Presidio counties. It is anticipated that this play, having been started, will continue at an accelerated pace during the succeeding years.

Chadron vertebrate fossils from below the Rim Rock of Presidio County, Texas

Chadron vertebrate fossils from below the Rim Rock of Presidio County, Texas

Contrasts in the Vegetation of Sierra Tierra Vieja in Trans-Pecos Texas

In western Presidio and Jeff Davis Counties of Trans-Pecos Texas there lies a long mountain range paralleling the Rio Grande and extending toward the Big Bend of that river. On recent maps the range is designated as the Tierra Vieja Mountains, but on early geological maps it bears the name Sierra Vieja or Sierra Vieja Mountains. Consistency in the use of Spanish would suggest the name Sierra Tierra Vieja, old earth mountain, and the range will thus be referred to in this paper.

FAUNISTIC NOTES ON THE DIURNAL LEPIDOPTERA OF THE BIG BEND REGION OF TRANS-PECOS, TEXAS, WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW MELITAEA

This is one of a series of papers on the insect life of the Big Bend Region of Trans-Pecos, Texas, in which the author plans to present a fairly complete picture of the insect and animal life of that little known region. The area is composed of Presidio and Jeff Davis Counties, the former mainly Lower Sonoran in its faunal affinities, the latter principally Upper Sonoran and partly Transitional. Each county has its own mountain system; Presidio County the Chinati Mountains and Jeff Davis County the Davis Range. The Chinatis are desert mountains; the Davis are forested with oaks and pines.

DESCRIPTION AND BIOLOGICAL NOTES ON A NEW SATURNIID OF THE GENUS PSEUDOHAZIS FROM THE BIG BEND REGION OF TEXAS

This is one of a series of papers on the desert life of the Big Bend Region of Trans-Pecos, Texas. The area concerned is mainly in Presidio and Jeff Davis Counties; the former one of the largest counties in the United States. Situated about twenty miles north of Presidio in Presidio County is the mining town of Shafter which lies in the heart of the Chinati Mountains.

Live Trapping Texas Antelopes

The credit for the first successful livetrapping and transplanting of pronghorned antelopes (Antilocapra americana) belongs to Elliot S. Barker, State Game Warden, and Paul Russell, District Deputy Game Warden, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. The antelope trap and shipping crate now used by the Texas Game Department are modified from those employed by the State of New Mexico. The Texas method of drifting the antelopes into the trap and of removing the animals for shipment differs from the New Mexico live-trapping technique. An airplane replaces horsemen and antelopes removed from the crowding pen in a group. There are two main purposes of livetrapping and transplanting antelopes. The first is to remove antelopes from sheep to cattle range, the incompatibility of domestic sheep and antelope having been convincingly demonstrated by management and habitat studies. The second objective is to reduce the population on enclosed areas where there is a surplus and to distribute them over former and present suitable ranges from which they are now absent. Antelopes are unable to escape from sheep-wired enclosures but can crawl under or through ordinary barbed wire fences; by transporting them to favorable cattle ranges they may increase in number, spread, and become more firmly established in the fauna of the state. The first attempt to transplant antelopes in Texas was made in Sterling County during 1939, when 257 head were trapped and liberated in twentyone new localities. Trapping operations were resumed in the Davis Mountain Range in Brewster and Presidio Counties during October, 1940. Because of the mountainous terrain of this section of western Texas and also the large pastures (10,240 to 22,400 acres) in which the antelopes were to be trapped, it was soon learned that the method of employing horsemen for drifting the animals into a trap was too costly. While the writer was taking a census of antelopes by airplane near Alpine, Texas, it was observed that the animals tended to flee from the drone of the airplane motor. This tendency was found to increase in proportion to the nearness of the plane. Following up this lead, it was learned that scattered herds of antelope could be assembled into one and drifted in any desired direction, provided the airplane was maneuvered so that the drone of the motor issued from a position behind or to one side of the antelopes and at altitudes of 50 to 500 feet. Further experiments showed that a modification of the trap would be necessary before this species could be captured by airplane driving. Numerous variations in trap construction were tried before success was achieved. Since the adoption of this method of herding ant lope by airplane, 467 animals have been trapped, sexed, aged, weighed, eartagged, and released in suitable habitats. The trapping operations covered 43 days. Only three animals died, a mortality of but 0.64 per cent. Releases were made at distanceE of from 25 to

Igneous rocks of the Terlingua-Solitario region, Texas

The Terlingua-Solitario region in southern Brewster and Presidio counties, Texas, is arid and mountainous with many hypabyssal intrusions. Lava flows border it on the west. The sedimentary rocks, excepting some of Paleozoic age in the center of the Solitario, the largest laccolithic dome, are Cretaceous and have been deformed by laccolithic intrusions and faults, many of the rift type. The Solitario contains many small rhyolite dikes and sills and is encircled by a rim sill. Volcanic agglomerate in a central cauldronlike area records an extrusion. The eastern part of the area is in a block depressed several thousand feet and contains many dikes, sills, and smaller laccoliths. The igneous rocks include an analcite-bearing series and intermediate, trachytic, and rhyolitic types, most of which are soda-rich. The analcite-bearing types range from melanocratic gabbroid to syenitic types. Analcite is primary, deuteric, and hydrothermal and was formed through a rather long period. The complete assemblage is alkaline and resembles the suites from Spanish Peaks, Colorado, and other alkaline subprovinces along the front of the Rocky Mountains. The analcite-bearing rocks are most abundant in the sunken block and evidently were derived from several differentiating submagmas. The other rocks, especially the rhyolites, are associated with higher anticlinal structures. A tectonic control of differentiation is postulated.

Upper Paleozoic Section of Chinati Mountains, Presidio County, Texas

Previous work in the Chinati Mountains is briefly reviewed and the various exposures of Paleozoic sediments are described. The stratigraphy is discussed and evidence is presented demonstrating the presence of a Permian section nearly as complete as that of the Glass Mountains, as well as a fairly complete Pennsylvanian sequence.

The Upper Paleozoic Section of the Chinati Mountains, Presidio County, Texas: ABSTRACT

Previous work in the Chinati Mountains is briefly reviewed and the various exposures of Paleozoic sediments are described. The stratigraphy is discussed End_Page 1705------------------------------ and evidence is presented demonstrating the presence of a Permian section nearly as complete as that of the Glass Mountains, as well as a fairly complete Pennsylvanian sequence. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1706------------

Upper Paleozoic Chinati Series, Presidio County, Texas: GEOLOGICAL NOTES

Upper Paleozoic Chinati Series, Presidio County, Texas: GEOLOGICAL NOTES

THE MUTILLIDAE OF PRESIDIO AND JEFF DAVIS COUNTIES OF THE BIG BEND REGION OF TRANS-PECOS TEXAS

The following species of Mutillidae, parasitic wasps commonly known as “velvet ants” or “cow killers” were collected during the period September. 1928, to July, 1930, while the writer was stationed at the Pink Bollworm Laboratory at Presidio, Texas. Presidio County with Brewster County on the east and Jeff Davis County on the north, forms the little known area called the “Big Bend” region of Trans-Pecos Texas.

Solitario uplift, Presidio-Brewster counties, Texas

Introduction The Solitario is a circular dome 5 miles in inside and 7 miles in outside diameter, situated 60 miles south of Marfa, west Texas, in both Presidio and Brewster counties (figure 1). It is in the trans-Pecos section, 9 miles in a straight line from the Rio Grande, on the western side of the “Big Bend” in the river and 25 miles east of Presidio. Occasional ranches are scattered through this barren mesquite desert, but few are near the highways. Military roads have been constructed from Marfa to Lajitas past the Solitario and to other outposts. There is a wagon road from the Lajitas road past McMahon’s ranch into the north end of the uplift. Although the Solitario is shown on the topographic sheet of the Terlingua quadrangle, United States Geological Survey (figure 1), and although it has been visited by several geologists, including G. K. Gilbert, J. A. . . .

Description of a Permian Crinoid Fauna from Texas

The crinoid fauna here described was collected by Professor J. A. Udden in Presidio County, Texas. The specimens are all from the lower brecciated bed of the Cibolo limestone' in the east bluff of Sierra Alta creek three miles north of Shafter and one-half mile below Cibolo ranch. The fauna is of interest because it is the first prolific crinoid fauna described from the Permian of this country. The members of the fauna constitute an interesting assemblage of species, most of which belong to the family Encrinidae which is restricted in range to the late Paleozoic and the Triassic. The members of this family are characterized by the development of strong articulating ridges upon the distal faces of the radial plates and by the reduction and sometimes by the elimination of the anal plates in the dorsal cup. The only species here described which does not belong to this family is Hydreionocrinus uddeni, one of the Poteriocrinidae also having strong articular ridges on the radials, but having a full quota of anal plates and a large ventral sack. Besides the species here described there are numerous detached plates in the collection which indicate the presence of nearly as many more species, and many crinoid columns of various sizes and forms, the largest of which attain a diameter of 40mm or more. In comparing the fauna with similar faunas in other parts of the world, mention must be made of the echinoderm fauna of the upper marine series of the Permo-Carboniferous of New South Wales2 and that of the Productus limestone of the Salt Range in India.3 The species here described as Phialocrinus americanus must be compared directly with P. princeps Eth., from the Australian horizon, and,