Volume 33

Table of Contents

The Dead Still Speak: An Ongoing Study of Terlingua Cemetery

Thomas C. Alex and Robert E. Wirt

During the winter months of 2020 and 2021, the Terlingua Cemetery was mapped and photographed to create the first comprehensive documentation of this important historic cemetery. This study provides additional historic context for the Terlingua National Register Historic Site and for the Terlingua Historic Texas Cemetery and synthesizes the current body of knowledge associated with its population and condition. This article provides previously unpublished information on the deceased population and implications about the community’s health between 1900 and 1945

Transitional Paleo-Archaic Earth Oven Facility at the Genevieve Lykes Duncan Site (41BS2615), Brewster County, Texas

Erika S. Blecha

In August of 2020, the Center for Big Bend Studies returned to the Genevieve Lykes Duncan site (41BS2615) on the 02 Ranch in Brewster County, Texas, to excavate three thermal features—F-15, F-16, and F-17—found in a backhoe trench in 2012. The radiocarbon dates returned from the three thermal features overlapped and suggested the potential of an intact Late Paleoindian living surface. The purpose of the August 2020 excavation was to fully expose the thermal features, determine if an intact Late Paleoindian living surface was present, collect the feature fill, and have the macrobotanicals analyzed. The results of this excavation are presented in this report.

Music of Alpine and the Big Bend: 1965–1975

Randy Jackson

This chilly day in Alpine in February 2009 provided me with the time and reflective attitude required for this project. For the sake of posterity, and in case of interest at some later date, I am recording my knowledge of the music of Alpine and the Big Bend region of Texas during the years of 1965–1975. This work is mine alone and is the result of personal experiences as well as a fair amount of research; it is as accurate as my less-than-accurate mind allows and the limited research material available to me. This is my recollection of the area music scene during my early life in Alpine. I am sharing it to entertain all, especially the Baby Boomers. I hope it will bring back a few memories of two-stepping at Bill’s Barn or the Thursday night Clip & Brand dances at Kokernot Lodge. If any facts are in error or omitted, please forgive me.

Floyd C. Dodson: The Big Bend’s Unsung Benefactor of the 1930s

Kenneth S. Durham

This is the untold story of Floyd C. Dodson—the Permian Basin’s premier geologist, sought-after consultant, and promoter of notable oil prospects—and his 20-year quest to discover oil in the Big Bend region of Texas, culminating in his 1935 wildcat and continuing until his untimely death in 1944. Dodson’s focus during this period was on the Hovey Dome, a singular geologic anomaly in far northern Brewster County, Texas. In the process of promoting his vision and using his own money to employ leading-edge oil exploration technology of the day, he attracted scores of independent and major oil companies into the region. His work and the subsequent wildcatting boom he inspired provided a significant economic boost to the Big Bend area during the depths of the Great Depression.

Woulfter Rockshelter: Preserving the Essence of a Late Prehistoric Mortuary Site in the Davis Mountains, Texas

Robert J. Mallouf and Jennifer C. Piehl

A small rockshelter located at the northeastern edge of the Davis Mountains in Jeff Davis County, Texas, was excavated by a relic collector in the mid-1980s. The resulting private collection from Woulfter Rockshelter (41JD213) consists of human remains and associated mortuary offerings that were kept intact from the date of site discovery. In cooperation with the collector, the rockshelter and mortuary assemblage were documented by archaeologists from the Center for Big Bend Studies in 2008. Examination of the shelter indicated it was used exclusively for mortuary purposes during a single event in late prehistory. Osteoarchaeological analysis revealed the mortuary feature to be a partially cremated, secondary group burial containing three individuals—a female and two males. The interment artifacts removed consisted of fragments of fibrous matting and cordage, an eagle skull, and a single fragmentary arrow point. A bone collagen calibrated assay of AD 1295–1399 and two ancient DNA samples yielding rare subhaplogroup B2l were obtained from one individual in the mortuary feature. Woulfter Rockshelter is considered here to be one of a series of area mortuary sites dating ca. AD 1250–1325 that might have resulted from violent social interaction during a period of posited cultural transition in the eastern TransPecos region. Such interaction would likely have transpired between an indigenous regional population and small-scale foraging groups—including bison hunters— having origins in west-central Texas and the Southern Plains.