Big Bend National Park

Big Bend
Cañón de Santa Elena, Mexico on the left and Big Bend National Park, U.S. on the right.
Location in Texas Show map of Texas Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	Brewster County, Texas, United States
Nearest city	Alpine
Coordinates	29°15′0″N 103°15′0″W / 29.25000°N 103.25000°W / 29.25000; -103.25000
Length	4 km (2.5 mi)
Area	801,163 acres (3,242.19 km2)[1]
Established	June 12, 1944
Visitors	463,832 (in 2019)[2]
Operator	National Park Service
Website	Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park is an American national park located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States,^[3] and was named after a large bend in the Rio Grande/Río Bravo.^[4] The park protects more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56 species of reptiles, and 75 species of mammals.^[5] Additional park activities include scenic drives, programs led by Big Bend park rangers, and stargazing.^[6]

The area has a rich cultural history, from archeological sites dating back nearly 10,000 years to more recent pioneers, ranchers, and miners.^[7] The Chisos Mountains are located in the park, and are the only mountain range in the United States to be fully contained within the boundary of a national park.^[8] Geological features in the park include sea fossils and dinosaur bones, as well as volcanic dikes.

The park encompasses an area of 801,163 acres (1,251.8 sq mi; 3,242.2 km²), entirely within Brewster County.^[1] For more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km), the Rio Grande/Río Bravo forms the boundary between Mexico and the United States, and Big Bend National Park administers approximately 118 miles (190 km) along that boundary.^[9][10]

Because the Rio Grande serves as an international boundary, the park faces unusual constraints while administering and enforcing park rules, regulations, and policies. In accordance with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the park's territory extends only to the center of the deepest river channel as the river flowed in 1848. The rest of the channel and the land south of it lies within Mexican territory. The park is bordered by the protected areas of Cañón de Santa Elena and Maderas del Carmen in Mexico.

Geography and climate

According to the

The park exhibits dramatic contrasts and its climate may be characterized as one of extremes. Dry and hot late spring and summer days often exceed 100 °F (38 °C) in the lower elevations. Winters are normally mild but subfreezing temperatures occasionally occur. Because of the range in altitude from about 1,800 feet (550 m) along the river to

The 118 mi (190 km) of river that form the southern park boundary include the spectacular canyons of Santa Elena, Mariscal, and Boquillas. The Rio Grande, which meanders through this portion of the

The park's Chisos Mountains are sky islands surrounded by desert. A significant part of the park's tremendous biodiversity is represented by isolated populations of plants and animals found in the Chisos Mountains and in many of the desert springs distributed across the park.^[3]

South of the border lie the Mexican states of

History

During the early historic period (before 1535) several Indian groups were recorded as inhabiting the Big Bend. The Chisos Indians were a loosely organized group of nomadic hunters and gatherers who probably practiced limited agriculture on a seasonal basis. The origin of the Chisos Indians is not known. Linguistically, they were associated with the Conchos Indians of northern Chihuahua and northwestern Coahuila. They spoke a member of

In May 1916, a raid on Glenn Springs received national attention, motivating President Wilson to issued orders for the mobilization of the Texas National Guard to aid federal forces along the border. A permanent cavalry camp was established at Glenn Springs in 1916 and remained until 1920, when the border situation improved.^[17]

Establishing a park

In the 1930s, many people who loved the Big Bend country saw that it was a land of unique contrast and beauty that was worth preserving for future generations. In 1933, the Texas Legislature passed legislation to establish Texas Canyons State Park. Later that year, the park was redesignated Big Bend State Park. In 1935, the United States Congress passed legislation that would enable the acquisition of the land for a national park.^[18] The State of Texas deeded the land that it had acquired to the federal government, and on June 12, 1944, Big Bend National Park became a reality. The park opened to visitors on July 1, 1944.

Geology

The oldest recorded

Following the ending of rifting in the Late Cretaceous to the early Cenozoic, the Big Bend area was subjected to the Laramide orogeny. This period of (now east–west) compression caused the northeast-facing Mesa de Anguila (an uplifted monocline on the park's southwest margin), the southwest-facing Sierra del Carmen–Santiago Mountains (an uplifted and thrust-faulted monocline that forms the park's boundary on the east) and the Tornillo Basin. During the middle Cenozoic, most of the volcanic rocks, including the Chisos Group, the Pine Canyon caldera complex, and the Burro Mesa Formation, formed.^[5]

The most recent tectonic activity in the park is

Cultural resources in the park range from the Paleo-Indian period 10,500 years ago through the historic period represented by Native American groups, such as the Chisos, Mescaleros, and Comanche. More recently, Spanish, Mexican, Anglo, and Irish settlers farmed, ranched, and mined in the area.

Throughout the prehistoric period, humans found shelter and maintained open campsites throughout the park. The archeological record reveals an Archaic-period desert culture, whose inhabitants developed a nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyle that remained virtually unchanged for several thousand years.

The historic cultural landscape centers upon various subsistence or commercial land use. The riparian and tributary environments were used for subsistence and irrigation farming. Transportation networks, irrigation structures, simple domestic residences and outbuildings, and planed and terraced farmland lining the stream banks characterize these landscapes.

Flora and fauna

Despite its harsh desert environment, Big Bend has more than 1,200 species of plants (including 60 cactus species^[22]), over 600 species of vertebrates, and about 3,600 insect species. The variety of life is largely due to the diverse ecology and changes in elevation between the dry, hot desert, the cool mountains, and the fertile river valley.

Plants

The variety of cactus and other plant life add color to the Big Bend region. Cactus in the park include prickly pear (Opuntia spp.), claretcup (Echinocereus coccineus), and pitaya (E. enneacanthus). In the spring, the wildflowers are in full bloom and the yucca flowers display bright colors. Bluebonnets (Lupinus spp.) are prevalent in Big Bend, and white and pink bluebonnets are sometimes visible by the road. Other flowering plants such as the desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata), desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), rock nettle (Eucnide urens), and lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla) abound in Big Bend.

Of particular importance to the region was the candelilla plant (Euphorbia antisyphilitica). This was used to create candelilla wax, and was the motivation for wax camps within the area of Big Bend National Park such as Glenn Springs, Texas.

Animals

Most of the animals are not visible in the day, particularly in the desert. The park comes alive at night, with many of the animals foraging for food. About 150 cougar (Puma concolor) sightings are reported per year, despite the fact that only two dozen cougars live in the park.^[23] Other species that inhabit the park include coyote (Canis latrans), kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spp.), greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu), and black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus). Mexican black bears (Ursus americanus eremicus) are also present in the mountain areas.

Plans to reintroduce the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) to Big Bend National Park were rejected in the late 1980s by the state of Texas. Disagreement over the reintroduction included the question of whether the park contained enough prey animals, such as deer and javelinas, to sustain a wolf population.^[24]

Birds

More than 450 species of birds have been recorded at Big Bend NP.^[25]

Eight basic land-cover types occur at the park. In order of predominance, they are desert shrubland, igneous grassland, limestone grassland, riparian vegetation, montane woodland, bare ground, developed areas, and surface water.^[26]

Birders flock to the park, as it is home to the only area in the United States within the breeding range of the Colima warbler (Leiothlypis crissalis). The colima warbler arrives in the Chisos Mountains in mid-April to summer in the high canyons of the mountains. By mid-September, it returns to its wintering grounds in southwestern Mexico. The species is a ground nester and prefers the oak-maple habitat found in Boot Canyon and similar high, cool areas from Laguna Meadow to Boot Canyon and the South Rim.^[25] The first U.S. record of the northern tufted flycatcher (Mitrephanes phaeocercus), a Central American species, was from this site in November 1991.^[27]

Fossils

The History of Paleontology at Big Bend National Park

Paleontologists began working at Big Bend National Park site as early as 1907, with the discovery of sharks and

The first museum built to display fossils at the park burned down in 1941, mammoth teeth and saber tooth cat fossils were lost in the blaze.[30] A new exhibit of fossil bones opened in 1957, and displayed fossils of Hyracotherium, a horse ancestor, and Coryphodon, a large hippo-like animal that lived during the Eocene, about 55 million years ago (mya).^[30] In 1990, the fossils were replaced with replicas, but the museum was overhauled in the 2000s - a redesigned Fossil Discovery Exhibit opened in 2017.^[29] Today, citizens need permits to legally collect fossils in Big Bend National Park.

Fossils by Ecosystem and Time Period

Big Bend Underwater

135 mya, Big Bend was underwater.

When water levels fell 83-72 mya, the area that is now Big Bend became a complex mosaic of deltas, populated by fish and sharks, big turtles, and crocodylian. There is also evidence of terrestrial species such as herds of hadrosaurs, horned ceratopsids, armored nodosaurs, and tyrannosauroids.^[33]

The Javelina Formation (72–67 mya)

Big Bend was, at this time, well above sea level. Some of its animals include early carnivorous mammals, hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, tyrannosauroids, and the largest known pterosaur, Quetzalcoatlus. Its waterways were filled with fish, rays, and amphibians.^[33]

Black Peaks Formation (67–66 mya)

In geological strata marking the end of the Cretaceous, the remains of flowering plants, conifers, gar, rays, as well as the bones of Alamosaurus have been found. The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event occurred around 66 mya, wiping out seventy percent of life on land, including all non-bird dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and 90 percent of ocean life.^[34]

Hot springs

There are several hot springs in the park, including the springs in the Hot Springs Historic District. The main hot spring is simply called Hot Springs; it is also known as Bocadillas hot springs and Langford hot springs. Hot Springs is on the National Register of Historic Places.^[35] The hot springs were the first major tourist attraction in the Big Bend area, before the national park was established. In 1909, J.O. Langford began developing the springs. There was a small stone soaking tub of local stone from the time before Langford's development was excavated at the site. A dugout shelter existed at the site that was renovated by the Langford family as a residence. The Langfords then constructed an adobe house, a stone bathhouse, and bathing shelters made of brushwood. Later in 1927 they rebuilt the bathhouse, and built a store and a motor court with seven attached cabins.^[36]

Tourism

Big Bend is one of the largest, most remote, and one of the least-visited national parks in the contiguous United States. In the 10-year period from 2009 to 2019, an average of 377,154 visitors entered the park annually.^[2]

Big Bend's primary attraction is its

The park administers 118 miles (190 km) of the Rio Grande for recreational use. Professional river outfitters provide tours of the river. Use of a personal boat is permitted, but a free river float permit is required. In June 2009, the Department of Homeland Security began treating all float trips as trips that had left the country and required participants to have an acceptable form of identification such as a passport to re-enter the country.^[37]

Visitors often cross the Rio Grande to visit the Mexican village of

With more than 450 species of birds recorded in the park, a widely popular activity is birdwatching. Many species stop in the park during their annual migrations.

Five paved roads are in Big Bend.

View from above the Window looking at the desert far below

International dark-sky park

In 2012, the park was designated an

San Vicente Independent School District is based on the park grounds.^[42] San Vicente ISD's facility moved to the Panther Junction area circa 1951 so children of park employees had a local school.^[43] Much of the park is in San Vicente ISD while other parts are physically in Terlingua Common School District.^[44] High school aged students from San Vicente ISD attend high school at Big Bend High School of Terlingua CSD.^[45]

Prior to 1996 Alpine High School of the Alpine Independent School District served as the high school for students from Terlingua CSD,^[46] and also for students of San Vicente ISD.^[43] The high school opened in 1996.^[46] San Vicente began sending students to Big Bend High when it was established in 1996.^[47]

See also

References