Texas - PhotoTrice

Sunset on Maxwell Scenic Drive

Big Bend National Park is one of the grand places we have gifted to ourselves as a nation. Maxwell Scenic Drive captures much of the flavor of Big Bend starting in the middle of the park and ending near the sheer vertical cut in the escarpment known as Santa Elena Canyon. Unfortunately watching the sunset on Maxwell Scenic Drive is an experience few people will ever have.

The park is tucked far out of the way in remote West Texas along the international border. Few visitors ever venture here which means you are likely to have the whole place to yourself during most of the year. With about a thousand square miles of hiking, biking, mountains, rivers and desert to explore unique experiences can be found everywhere. What you won’t find are artificial lights at night because the park is a dark sky preserve or lots of tourist amenities. This is quiet and pristine country.

I get to the Bend as often as possible and miss it as soon as I leave. It is just one of those places you never forget.

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Railroad Crosses

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See Forever Under Blue Skies

The post title Railroad Crosses is a reminder of the silent way people lose their lives crossing the Texas-Mexico border. It is an inhospitable unforgiving frontier. Triple digit temperatures and little access to water or shelter are normal conditions. It is no exaggeration to say someone could walk twenty miles to find water. Traveling on foot without supplies is a death sentence for many migrants.

Coyotes and drug smugglers see the vast unpopulated area as an asset. Bad characters draw little attention along the 1,200 mile length of border. Patrolling a 20 mile wide swath along the border amounts to more than 24,000 square miles. There is no practical way to ensure physical security using people or a wall here. High tech solutions can be effective for detecting activity but people must do the policing.

The Path of Commerce

A general rule in the Western United States is commerce follows the railroad. Interesting town sites are generally within a few miles of road transportation. Today highway 90 is the main road in the area. To start exploring you need some good detailed maps, a vehicle with high clearance and curiosity. History is there you just have to find it.

A careful look reveals everything from Native American petroglyphs to abandoned ghost towns. This image was made in the ghost town of Pumpville. It was once a railroad water stop in the days of steam. Just a few miles South is another famous semi-ghost town called Langtry. You can still visit the remains of the Jersey Lilly Saloon and Courthouse where Roy Bean literally held court. Link is to the wikipedia entry for Roy Bean

Be Prepared

There are a few things to consider before jumping into exploring the border region. In the old days rattlesnakes were the greatest danger. Today desperate people, some armed, may be present. It’s best to remember there has always been a certain freedom of action practiced along the border.

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Old School

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The Big Bend region of Texas is one of the grand American landscapes. There are only a few ways into the Bend and one runs through the town of Marathon. It has about four hundred residents, some essential services and a rather unique hotel. For travelers it’s a good place to stop for gas and coffee. In fact it is the last place to stop for anything for more than a hundred miles when heading into Big Bend National Park.

Old School

Marathon is where I met Billy Faier, sitting on the patio of my usual coffee shop playing the banjo. He was a veteran folk singer, friend of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, traveling companion of Woodie Guthrie, contemporary of Pete Seeger and practitioner of progressive politics. He was old school in ways that are hard to imagine in the twenty-first century. Now at eighty five years old, transplanted to this faraway spot.

It was clear he was someone special from the moment I heard his music. You don’t find many musicians in those parts playing folk tunes from the forties and fifties. Given where he was in remote West Texas it was like he had beamed in from another place and time.

We talked and I listened for about half an hour as he played and told stories. He fiddled with the banjo constantly as he spoke of his experiences. He had the wry sense of humor of a literate man well met. I bought a couple of CDs and told him I’d see him next time I was out that way. Sadly he died before I got back to Marathon. It was a privilege to meet Billy Faier.

More About Billy Faier

Billy archived some of his writing and music on the website http://billyfaier.com in his later years. It is an interesting view into a nearly forgotten world of itinerant musicians and progressive politics.