Part 2

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.

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).

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.

REGIONAL SETTING

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is located in the Panhandle of Texas (fig. 5) approximately 13 miles east of Canyon on State Highway 217 (see fig. 7). It is about 12 miles south and 8 miles east of Amarillo via Ranch Road 1541 which intersects State Highway 217. The park includes more than 15,000 acres of Palo Duro Canyon, a complexly dissected area which spreads into Randall, Armstrong, and Briscoe counties.

More specifically, the Palo Duro area is situated on the Llano Estacado or High Plains area which comprises approximately 20,000 square miles of Texas and New Mexico (see fig. 5). Generally speaking, the Llano Estacado is a high isolated plateau or broad mesa, rising above the surrounding rolling plains in a nearly flat, island-like mass. On the west, southwest, and south, the Llano Estacado is bounded by the valley of the Pecos River, while its eastern escarpment is drained by the headwaters of the Red, Brazos, and Colorado Rivers.

The rim of Palo Duro Canyon is formed by the Eastern Caprock Escarpment. Caprock is the term used to describe a massive layer of calcareous rock which supports the High Plains surface (see p. 26). Because it is more resistant to forces of erosion than the softer, underlying more or less horizontal strata, the caprock forms an abrupt, precipitous escarpment at the edge of the High Plains. With the exception of the resistant caprock, however, the surficial deposits on the High Plains are for the most part unconsolidated sediments.

The Llano Estacado is essentially devoid of native trees and is characterized by a sparse, but uniform, covering of grasses. The surface rocks are of Tertiary and Quaternary age (see geologic time scale, fig. 6) and have a general easterly to southeasterly slope of about 9½ feet per mile. In the vicinity of Palo Duro Canyon, rocks of Late Cenozoic age are directly underlain by Permian and Triassic formations. These Permian and Triassic rocks, which are discussed elsewhere in this publication, are not normally exposed except in deeply eroded areas such as the canyon.

Showing: Q & T Pleistocene and Pliocene undifferentiated Trdo Dockum Group (Triassic) P Permian undifferentiated

THE GEOLOGIC STORY

THE CANYON’S ROCKS AND MINERALS

Palo Duro visitors—regardless of age—seem to have an innate curiosity about the canyon’s rocks. This is not surprising, for most of the features of the park landscape are composed of or have been sculptured from solid rock. In short, much of the natural beauty of Palo Duro Canyon has been derived from the character of its exposed rock formations and the effect of geologic agents upon them.

Because rocks are the raw materials of geology and the stuff from which landscapes are formed, it will be helpful for the visitor to know something about the general characteristics of rocks and their role in the development of the landscape. Rock is everywhere around us and is one of the most common objects in the world, yet few people can actually define a rock. So, at the outset it should be stated that a rock is a naturally formed aggregate of minerals, and a mineral is a naturally occurring substance which has a fairly definite chemical composition, distinctive physical properties, characteristic internal structure, and which commonly occurs in definite shapes called crystals. Although not an exact scientific or legal definition of a mineral, the above explanation is satisfactory for the purposes of this publication.

Although most visitors show considerable interest in the canyon’s rocks and minerals, few of them know the story behind the rocks. They do not know how the rocks were formed, of what they are composed, how they change, and how they differ. More important, they fail to realize the historical significance of the rocks and how they can be used to interpret events that occurred in the canyon many millions of years ago. Thus, before one studies the geologic story of Palo Duro Canyon, it is helpful to know something about the various kinds of rocks. There are three major classes of rocks in the earth’s crust: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

Igneous rocks solidified from an original molten state. Common examples of igneous rocks include granite, basalt, and volcanic ash. Although no igneous rocks are found in Palo Duro Canyon, they are widely exposed in parts of West and Central Texas.

Metamorphic rocks were originally igneous or sedimentary in origin. However, these rocks have undergone such great physical and chemical change that they have been transformed into a different kind of rock. Thus, metamorphic changes alter limestone to marble or sandstone to quartzite. No metamorphic rocks crop out in the canyon, but, like the igneous rocks, they are common in some parts of the State.

All of the geologic formations exposed in Palo Duro Canyon are composed of sedimentary rocks. These are rocks that have been formed by the compaction and cementation of rock and mineral fragments called sediments, or by the precipitation of material from solution. Sandstone, conglomerate, shale, and caliche (see p. 26) are examples of sedimentary rocks that are exposed in the canyon.

Sedimentary rocks are typically stratified, that is, they occur in layers or beds called strata. In addition, sedimentary rocks—especially those of marine origin—commonly contain fossils. These fossils are traces or evidence of prehistoric plants and animals that have been preserved in the rocks, and they may provide clues as to the age of rocks and the manner in which they were formed. Fossil remains have been found at a number of places in the park and these are discussed later.

UNRAVELING EARTH HISTORY

In order to understand better the geologic history and development of the canyon, one should also have some knowledge of the basic principles of earth history and should be familiar with the geologic time scale (fig. 6).

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE ERA PERIOD EPOCH SUCCESSION OF LIFE CENOZOIC “RECENT LIFE” QUATERNARY 0-1 MILLION YEARS Recent Pleistocene TERTIARY 62 MILLION YEARS Pliocene Miocene Oligocene Eocene Paleocene MESOZOIC “MIDDLE LIFE” CRETACEOUS 72 MILLION YEARS JURASSIC 46 MILLION YEARS TRIASSIC 49 MILLION YEARS PALEOZOIC “ANCIENT LIFE” PERMIAN 50 MILLION YEARS CARBONIFEROUS PENNSYLVANIAN 30 MILLION YEARS MISSISSIPPIAN 35 MILLION YEARS DEVONIAN 60 MILLION YEARS SILURIAN 20 MILLION YEARS ORDOVICIAN 75 MILLION YEARS CAMBRIAN 100 MILLION YEARS PRECAMBRIAN ERAS PROTEROZOIC ERA ARCHEOZOIC ERA APPROXIMATE AGE OF THE EARTH MORE THAN 4 BILLION 550 MILLION YEARS

The geologist has learned that the earth’s physical features have not always been as they are today. It is known, for example, that mountains now occupy the sites of ancient seas. Coal is now being mined where swamps existed many millions of years ago. Furthermore, the earth’s plants and animals have also been subject to great change. The trend of this organic change is, in general, toward more complex and advanced forms of life. However, some forms have remained virtually unaltered while others have become extinct at different points in geologic time.

In order to interpret earth history, the earth scientist gathers evidence of the great changes in climate, geography, and life that took place in the geologic past. He does this by studying the rock formations, the structural relationships of these formations, and the landforms of the area. The record of ancient events is pieced together by studying the stony layers of the earth as one might study a giant history book. Indeed, the sedimentary rocks are the rocky “pages” of earth history, for in them we find the tracks and trails, and bones and stones, which reveal the intriguing story of life long ago.

Much of the basic information which the geologist uses to reconstruct the geologic history of a region comes from his examination and interpretation of bedrock outcrops. Bedrock is the solid unweathered rock which underlies loose earth material such as soil, sand, and gravel. An outcrop, or exposure, is a place where bedrock is exposed at the surface.

The first chapter of earth history begins with the most ancient rocks known. Because they were formed early in geologic time, these rocks are normally found deeply buried beneath younger rocks which have been deposited on top of them. It is for this reason that earth history is read from the bottom up, for the earliest formed rock layers correspond to the opening chapter in our earthen history book. The later chapters are found in the upper younger rocks which are located nearer the surface. Thus, in “reading” the geologic history of Palo Duro Canyon we start with the oldest “chapter” which is recorded in the Quartermaster Formation (p. 17) of Permian age, for these are the oldest rocks exposed in the canyon.