Big Bend Administrative History

Conscious of the need to address resource protection issues, more NPS staff and academics converged upon the Big Bend area throughout the summer of 1936. One party traversing the Grapevine Springs district of the future park uncovered "two teeth of an elephant believed to have perished in the mud and water of an ancient lake." An NPS press release of August 6 further stated that "other discoveries made in the Big Bend district include bones of dinosaurs, shark, and giant turtles." Park service officials reported that "more than 100 specimens have been collected of oyster, clam, and other shells, and a similar number of volcanic rocks have been found." This activity prompted Everett Townsend to approach Stanford Payne, state representative from Del Rio, with clarification of the issues of resource management confronting the park service. Sensitive to charges of federal intrusion into private lands, Townsend told Payne that neither the NPS's William McDougall nor the agency itself wished "to deprive the residents of that region of revenues that may come through seasonable hunting privileges." Townsend had discussed McDougall's list of potential protected species in the Big Bend area with local ranchers, and found that "there is no objection to including the deer in the protective list as some of them derive much needed income from the hunters each season." Townsend himself wanted the deer protected, but cautioned: "I hardly think they will all be killed before the area is acquired." The longstanding champion of Big Bend National Park had spoken with Ray Williams, local game warden, and learned of his willingness to "close the deer season over those portions of the counties [lying] south of the Southern Pacific Railway." Williams had advised Townsend that in this area "the deer are rapidly disappearing," and the former county sheriff hoped that Payne "will get through a bill closing the season on all of these animals, excluding the deer, unless your investigations convince you they should be included." Townsend then appended to his remarks the warning that "because of the difficulty in defining the boundary of the Park Area and the trouble in enforcing a local law where the boundary line is not marked and well known," Payne should include all lands south of Alpine and Marathon in any protection of the species outlined by McDougall and accepted by local ranchers. [20]

With the close of the summer research season, NPS officials in 1936 had a wealth of data from which to plan future development of Big Bend National Park. Erik Reed, assistant archaeologist for Region III, completed what would be the most thorough assessment of cultural resources in the park area for the next five decades. As had his peers in biology and geology, Reed outlined the distinctive features of human habitation of the Big Bend area. "The Big Bend proper," reported Reed, "is less rich in specimens than other sections" of the United States, "especially the lower Pecos [River]." Yet the NPS archaeologist found that "many good collections have been made there; of sandals, matting, wooden implements, basketry, etc." Reed told his superiors that "the historic occupants of the Trans-Pecos (Jumanos, Lipanes, etc.) are not very thoroughly known, and the affinities of the prehistoric cave-dwellers are a matter of controversy." This was "in contrast to the northern Arizona-southern Utah area," where "the culture of the Basketmakers of the northern part of the arid southwest is fairly well known." Archaeological evidence there had identified "the irruption of a new people into the Pueblo civilization, and connection somehow with the historic Shoshoneans of the Great Basin." Unfortunately, reported Reed, "none of these statements apply to the west Texas cave-dwellers." [21]

Despite the lack of scholarly interest in the cultures of the Rio Grande basin, Reed found of value their survival skills in the desert. "The group under discussion," wrote the NPS archaeologist, "lived in caves and probably also crude brush shelters, had very little agriculture (none on the Pecos; some maize grown in the Big Bend; apparently none in the Hueco-El Paso area)." While these ancient peoples "made no pottery [a feature that enamored archaeologists of the Pueblo cultures of northern New Mexico and Arizona]," Reed found that "they wove quite good baskets -twined and coiled, especially split-stitch coiled - and twilled matting." Their sandals were "roughly woven of yucca leaves, in several techniques," while "little else is known of their clothing." For weapons the Big Bend cultures "used the atl-atl or dart-thrower," and evidence abounded of the use of the bow and arrow (which Reed noted was "not known to the southwestern Basketmakers until the beginning of Pueblo immigration"), as well as the "carved rabbit stick" that archaeologists had located among the Basketmakers and the Historic Shoshoneans of the Great Basin. [22]

It was the comparison with the more prominent ancestors of New Mexico's Pueblo peoples (whom the NPS had begun to study in depth in the 1930s at sites like Chaco Canyon, Bandelier, and Mesa Verde) that drew much of Reed's analysis, although he did report that "one cannot safely link them [the Big Bend peoples] at all strongly with . . . the Lipan Apache, the Patarabueyes or Jumanos, and the Basketmakers of the Southwest." The Big Bend cultures, the New Mexican Native communities, and ancient villages known to park service archaeologists as "Ozark bluff-dwellers" "all have many points of similarity, but are nevertheless separate entities." Reed placed these groups "all on about the same level of cultural development, at a stage that many cultures pass through." He then stated that "there is no need to suppose that these three peoples spoke the same language, were more closely related than any other widely separated groups of aboriginal Americans or were even contemporary - although all this is perfectly possible." Reed believed that "the Patarabueyes who were settled at the mouth of the Conchos (where now is Presidio, Texas) in the sixteenth century are to be connected with the west Texas cave-dwellers." More likely for Reed was evidence from "two additional groups of archaeological finds in the west Texas area." These he labeled "the discovery of extremely ancient sites in Guadalupe Mountains in Texas and in New Mexico and farther north around Clovis and Roswell, New Mexico," as well as "the 14th century occurrence of Pueblo culture around El Paso." Reed claimed that "it is perfectly possible that the Big Bend cave-dwellers were descendants of the very early inhabitants of the Guadalupes." He also suggested that "the folk who lived in the El Paso pueblos and manufactured crude polychrome pottery were a branch of the cave people become sedentary and relatively civilized under Puebloan influence from the Mimbres-Chihuahua basin." [23]

It was easier for Reed to distance the Big Bend cultures from the Lipan Apaches, "who are the most important people of west Texas in historic times." He argued that, "despite great superficial similarity," one would have to accept "very unlikely hypotheses" that included "that the whole cave-culture dates from after the 13th century (or else that the Apache came into the southwest much earlier than is at present believed)." Reed added to this scenario the idea that "agriculture was abandoned, that certain arrowpoint types disappeared and quite different ones replaced them (instead of one type gradually evolving into another)." The NPS archaeologist, however, did find "definite connections southward of the west Texas cave-dwellers -with a very similar but little-known cave culture in the mountains of Coahuila." Yet Reed declared it "impossible to specifically link them with any historic or prehistoric group in the United States." At best, the scientific evidence revealed that the Big Bend culture "is very like that of the Basketmakers and that the two groups may well be cognate representatives of the same fundamental stock." [24]

Given this dilemma of identity, Reed could speak with more certainty about "their place in time." He reported that "the west Texas cave-dwellers may have been in existence as such two thousand years ago and they may have still been there when Cabeza de Vaca traveled through Texas [1541]." The archaeologist noted that "an antiquity comparable to that of the Basketmakers (i.e., going back a few centuries before the time of Christ) has been postulated and is supported by the finding of cave-dweller materials in association with an extinct species of antelope (Tetrameryx)." A "competent and trustworthy archaeologist" had found shards of fourteenth-century Pueblo pottery ("El Paso polychrome notably"). This led Reed to theorize "that the west Texas cave-dwellers inhabited the region from fairly early times on down to about the fourteenth century, at which time they were overrun by the Lipanes and either vanished into the mountains of Coahuila or became the Patarabueyes at the confluence of the Conchos and the Rio Grande." Reed thus concluded about the identity of the cave-dwellers: "They present an interesting problem, in whose solution the discipline or technique to be most utilized is that of the shovel and trowel." [25]

That reference to the "spadework" of archaeologists led Reed to outline the plan of work undertaken from June to September of 1936. Working with the Oklahoma City-based archaeologist on a full-time basis were Edgar C. Niebuhr of the University of Texas, and J. Charles Kelley of the University of New Mexico, joined for part of the summer by William M. Pearce of Texas Technical College in Lubbock. "In one excavation job," reported Reed, "several enrollees from Co. 1855 USCCC [Civilian Conservation Corps] were used for labor and did excellently." Reed also praised the work of "the SP ECW staff at SP-33-T (Big Bend State Park)," singling out Superintendent R.D. Morgan for his "cooperation and helpfulness." The team devoted "somewhat over half the time [to] archaeological reconnaissance-survey," where "the area is thoroughly scouted and as many sites as can be found are located and described as exactly as possible and surface specimens collected." That summer the Reed party visited 184 sites, selecting four to be excavated. One was a small rock shelter in the Chisos Basin "which yielded no specimens," while others included "a small cave in Mariscal Mountain," a cave in the east side of the Val Verde in the Dead Horse country, and "a debris-midden in the Chisos . . from which a fair number of stone artifacts was recovered." Reed reported that 325 archaeological specimens were collected that summer from 45 surface sites. "It is to be hoped," the NPS archaeologist concluded, "that a good deal of further archaeological work can be carried on in the Big Bend in future years by the National Park Service, or by other competent public and private organizations," as "there is much that should be done - and done right - in the Big Bend area." [26]

Reed's crew worked in conjunction with several other groups of archaeologists throughout west Texas that summer, making 1936 perhaps the high point of scientific effort in matters of cultural resource research. To emphasize the significance of the collaborative efforts in the region, Reed noted that excavations were underway in the Val Verde country ("the lower Pecos, Seminole Canyon, Shumla, Devil's River Canyon") by the University of Texas and by the San Antonio-based Witte Museum. Around El Paso Reed found crews digging near the Hueco Tanks, while "minor investigations have been carried out in the northern part of the trans-Pecos, especially Culberson county." The Smithsonian Institution and the West Texas Historical and Scientific Society had sent crews into the field north of Alpine and Marfa, while the former agency also had workers inside the boundaries of the future Big Bend National Park at Mule Ears Peak. Frank Setzler of the Smithsonian's National Museum (the precursor of the National Museum of American History) oversaw excavation of two caves in that area, while the Witte Museum staff examined the west side of Panther Canyon northeast of the Chisos Basin. Reed had less information about the work that summer of M.R. Harrington, although the latter and E.F. Coffin had dug in Bee Cave near Chalk Draw in the vicinity of Santiago Peak. [27]

The NPS archaeologist had few kind words for the "great deal of amateur excavation and vandalism" that coexisted with professional activity throughout the Trans-Pecos region. "In the Big Bend proper," wrote Reed, "most of the amateur archaeological work has been done by Mr. and Mrs. Elmo Johnson of Castolon." Reed also identified "Tom and Roy Miller of San Vicente" as exploiters of the region's cultural heritage. "Most of the other local people," said Reed, "have done little or no digging, but many have collected numerous arrowpoints, metates, etc., on the surface." He did concede that "the work done by the Johnsons in the Big Bend and across in Mexico is more or less all right." Reed stated that "they have taken care of their finds in most cases, and are genuinely interested," a circumstance validated by their cooperation with Smithsonian and park service crews. "The Johnsons fall in the group I classify as more or less beneficent amateurs," wrote Reed, "whose activities are to be encouraged and guided rather than halted (which is almost impossible anyway)." Unfortunately for Reed, "all other local digging has been vandalism, at best curio-hunting, including that of the Millers." The archaeologist stated that "the cooperation of the Millers with the field groups of the Witte Museum is not enough to their credit to make their account balance." Reed admitted that "the picking-up of projectile points and other surface specimens is regrettable but cannot be stopped; and it can be partly justified in that most good archaeologists start out as arrowhead-collectors." In addition, Reed noted that "a few curio-hunters have come in from the outside, but have not done as much damage as might be expected in most cases [as] the local people are opposed to outsiders taking materials out." [28]

As did other NPS scientists who came to Big Bend in the summer of 1936, Erik Reed and his archaeological crew included examination of cultural resources on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. Reed's journey south into Coahuila and Chihuahua revealed that "very little archaeological work has been done in northern Mexico in general, and almost none in this region." He learned that "the more westerly part of Chihuahua has been studied extensively, with very little reference to the mountains of eastern Chihuahua." In the area of Coahuila to become part of any future international park, Reed noted that a survey team from Harvard College had spent time there in 1885. "This has never been completely published," reported the archaeologist, "but the cultural material recovered is still at the Peabody Museum in Cambridge, Mass." Reed then spoke of his conversations with Elmo Johnson about cultural resource sites in Mexico. "A good part of [the Johnsons'] collection comes from south of the river," wrote Reed, with one particular site "a largish cave in which were a great number of burials, the skeletal material being in quite good condition apparently." Reed lamented that "this site is totally lost to science, due to Johnson's digging therein," but he hoped that "there may be others like it" in the area. Reed himself only had time to visit one site in Mexico that summer: the Canon de los Altares in Chihuahua, which he reached from Santa Elena. There he reported "an unusually extensive set of petroglyphs." Reed also recognized "camp-sites along the Mexican side of the Rio Grande as on the Texas side," while "back into the hills there are shelter sites and camps." In addition, said Reed, "there are interesting early Spanish sites at a few places on the river, notably presidio San Vicente." [29]

While the international park idea attracted the curiosity of Reed and his colleagues, he devoted much of his report to the details of the 184 sites examined on the American side of the Rio Grande. Of these, 89 he called "open camps." There were 95 caves explored that "not only showed definite evidence of having been utilized as at least temporary or occasional dwellings but also of containing in their fill cultural remains of their occupants." The open sites "yield few specimens and none of the perishable materials" of the caves, yet Reed found in them "utilized flint - spalls, chips, rejects, and cores - scattered over an area a few hundred feet each way." Some of the campsites had "accumulations of refuse - ashes and burnt rocks." These could be as small as "a few bed-rock mortars, . . . a few rock hearths and practically nothing else." Such camps appeared most frequently along the Rio Grande, rather than in the mountains. Reed also discovered what he called "sotol pits:" "a burnt-rock mound in the shape of a ring instead of irregular flat or subconical." Conventional wisdom held that "the depressed center of the mound represents the actual hearth where sotol was cooked with hot rocks." These then "were thrown away as they split into small fragments, forming a circular accumulation around the sotol hearth." [30]

Reed's surveys led him to draft several general themes for the NPS to consider in its planning for cultural resource preservation at Big Bend. "Archaeological sites in the Big Bend are for the most part near a permanent or semi-permanent water supply," wrote Reed, "as is the case in most areas." He determined that "any archaeological site that is not within striking distance of a spring or stream (or where the water table is easily reached) is obviously certain at least to have been little more than a halting place where a nomadic people made occasional dry camps." Reed then commented upon the ethnic complexities in the Big Bend region when he advised his superiors: "At almost any present point of settlement - any ranch or Mexican shack - there are remains of aboriginal occupants." This he considered "actual enough - if it is a good place for white men or Mexicans to settle, it was a good place for Indians." [31]

The work of Erik Reed in the field paralleled that of Charles Gould, who made yet another tour of Big Bend in August 1936 with a crew of geologists. Among his employees was Ross Maxwell, the junior geologist with the NPS's Region III, and student technicians Hugh M. Eley and O'Reilly N. Sandoz. Early in the summer Gould's crew had the services of Dr. C.P. Ross of the U.S. Geological Survey, whom Gould identified as having surveyed the western portions of the Big Bend area in 1934 "while engaged in quicksilver investigation." Between Maxwell's map, and the assistance of the students, Gould could report in September that "something between one-half and two-thirds of the area of the proposed park has been mapped." The regional geologist also took notice of the fact that "it now looks as if the Big Bend area will be one of the most prolific dinosaur collecting areas in the United States." The geology surveyors found "some eight to ten areas yielding dinosaur remains," with several large bones excavated by Maxwell and the technicians. These finds represented six different species of dinosaur, among them Diplodocus, Ceratops, and Stegosaur. "The men estimate that they have seen traces of several hundred individuals," reported Gould, "and it is a fact that at certain places one may walk one-half mile and step on broken fragments of dinosaur bones all the way." Other discoveries included turtle bones, sharks' teeth, a pre-historic bird, petrified wood (the largest of the "hundreds of stumps" measuring ten feet in diameter and 30 feet in length). Gould also claimed to have found a new species of oyster fossilized in the rock, with the largest being three feet eight inches by four feet. The "many specimens of volcanic and other igneous rocks" would be loaned to Hugh Eley for his master's thesis from the University of Oklahoma, while the Big Bend museum now boasted of 125 labeled species of invertebrates, and a similar number of rock specimens. [32]

When Gould had more time in the fall of 1936 to reflect upon the findings of his geological survey crew, he wrote to Herbert Maier about the problems of preserving the specimens at hand. "The greater part of the land which contains these prehistoric remains," said Gould in October, "is now in private ownership, and until it has been secured by the State or National park authorities it will perhaps be best to give little publicity to the existence of these fossils." Gould also warned his superiors that "the effective display of dinosaur skeletons requires considerable space." Some of the specimens at Big Bend could reach lengths of 30 to 40 feet, and stand 20 feet tall. "If they are to be displayed to advantage on the park," wrote Gould, "it will necessitate a rather large museum building containing one or more halls devoted to dinosaurs." Such a facility also could stabilize the bones excavated by the geology crew, as O'Reilly Sandoz had placed some 300 bones in plaster that could deteriorate over time and ruin the specimen. Similar attention needed to be paid to the abundance of petrified wood. "There is scarcely a square mile in the Big Bend Park," said Gould, "where [the Aguja] formation [containing the wood] does not occur." Fossils of oysters embedded in the "Boquillas flags" proliferated, including Inoceramus grandis, which Gould believed was new. [33]

Ross Maxwell spent much of his time identifying and cataloguing the varieties of volcanic rock that abounded in the future national park. "As more and more time is spent in Big Bend country," reported Gould, "and more details worked out it becomes increasingly evident that we have only begun to read the story told in the rocks." Maxwell and Hugh Eley read the literature extant about Big Bend's geology, and conversed with the eminent scholars working in the area. Among their conclusions that Gould supplied to NPS officials was evidence that "a considerable part of Pulliam and Ward Mountains consist of a bathlith [sic] across which Oak Canyon has cut a deep gorge." They believed that "Emory Peak, Casa Grande, South Rim, and other peaks, consist of intrusive lava, in the form of sills [in actuality extrusive surface lava flows]." Maxwell could not determine, however, the origins of this material, as he found "no evidence of cores, plugs or volcanic vents from which this material might have come." Similar mysteries abounded with the study of the volcanic ash and tuff that comprised the Chisos Beds. [34]

As had Erik Reed, Charles Gould appealed to regional NPS officials to sponsor additional survey and research work on the Big Bend's geological wonders. "At the first possible moment," wrote Gould, "at least three scientists, each man a specialist in his particular line, should be assigned to work in Big Bend." One should be a vertebrate paleontologist, whose task would be "dinosaurs and associated forms." An invertebrate paleontologist with expertise in cretaceous fossils "should work out the petrified shells." The third specialist, an expert in volcanic and igneous petrography, "should attempt to solve the problem of the origin of the volcanic rocks, and identify and classify them." Gould was pleased that Ross Maxwell would remain involved in the drafting of the geologic map for Big Bend. Then Gould suggested that the NPS consider the following summer's research needs by including a survey of the Dead Horse Mountains, which he claimed had "never been visited by the technicians of the National Park Service." Gould noted that Herbert Maier "has authorized a pack-train trip to be taken in October of this year to explore the area." The group would number two geologists, two wildlife experts, a guide and a camp outfitter. Their agenda would include Boquillas, a hike up Straw House Trail to Heath Creek, and then a journey north past Sue Peak to Dagger Flats and on to Persimmon Gap. [35]

Perhaps the most dramatic survey conducted in the Big Bend region in the summer of 1936 was that of Ernest G. Marsh, Junior, a graduate student in botany at the University of Texas. On October 11, Marsh filed with Region III officials "A Preliminary Report on a Biological Survey of the Santa Rosa and Del Carmen Mountains of Northern Coahuila, Mexico." His findings, while not complete, were such that the regional NPS office sent press releases to all newspapers in the Southwest trumpeting his achievement. Marsh had accepted an appointment "to spend three months in the Muzquiz-Boquillas region of northern Coahuila." The trip began eighteen days late, with the UT graduate student "awaiting permission from the Mexican government to enter the country as a government employee." Then "a delayed rainy season broke heavily two days before my arrival in Muzquiz." Marsh faced "continual rains, the loss of seventeen bird specimens, and a shortage of time" that prompted "abandoning the avifaunal and reptile collections for the Muzquiz area." He then made "successive trips of one week's duration to the Sabinas River, the Zacate-Encantada, and the Mariposa-Gacha," turning his attention to the more northern regions of Coahuila. [36]

Marsh's descriptions of his journey, and of the places that he surveyed, read more like an adventure novel than a scientific report. It took him nearly one week to drive from Muzquiz to the Big Bend area, where he encountered the 2,000-foot Carmen escarpment (which could be crossed only on a wagon road). Once in Piedra Blanca, some 175 miles north of Muzquiz, Marsh had to abandon his vehicle and transfer his equipment to "a more favorable mode, the burros." On July 30, he made camp at Canon de las Vivoras, south of the "Haciendo del Jardin," or 35 miles west of Piedra Blanca. From this base Marsh observed that "the northern Del Carmens are represented by two chains of mountains running parallel in a general northeastern direction." He then wrote that "the more western chain ends abruptly in probably the highest peak of northern Coahuila, La Sierra del Jardin." Marsh noted that "the complexity of the rough country and the slow method of travel force me to concentrate my efforts to a portion of the area rather than the whole." Claiming that "for no reason other than that it was a bit farther removed from inhabitants," Marsh "chose the western side of the western chain, a fifteen mile stretch of deep canyons and towering peaks." For the next six weeks he studied the Sierra del Carmen, coming to appreciate "the immensity of problems arising within such a small area of unexplored mountains." His hikes took him to the "great bare slope that leads up to approximately 6,000 feet to terminate in an abrupt Escarpmento de las Fronterizas." After making two excursions into the mountains, Marsh found himself riding out onto "the wide stretch of flats along the Chihuahua line." From there he "retraced the road to Muzquiz to spend seven days working in the Muzquiz Swamp and the canyons of La Mariposa." When it came time to leave, said Marsh, "it was almost with regrets that on September 23 I saw the last horizon of old Mexico pass behind me, and I was back again to the point of beginning." [37]

Marsh's survey marked the most detailed explanation to date of the Mexican side of the Rio Grande available to the park service. His collections included four species of amphibians from the Sierra del Carmen, one of which (the leopard frog) Marsh described as "the largest specimen I have ever seen." He also gathered samples of 39 species of birds, out of some 83 species that he recorded in the Coahuila range. He also recorded (but did not collect) 31 species of mammals on his tour. The UT graduate technician also collected some 850 specimens of plants, 400 of which came from the Sierra del Carmen. In addition, Marsh carried out "some thirty five or forty species of cacti, which, as yet, have not been determined." Of reptiles, Marsh could report preserving nineteen species. Completing Marsh's work were 100 photographs of animal and plant life, as well as scenic shots of the Sierra del Carmen, the Santa Rosa Mountains, and the town of Muzquiz. [38]

It was Marsh's description of the communities and land forms that he encountered, however, that gave the NPS for the first time a detailed picture of life in what one day would become Mexico's protected areas along and near Big Bend National Park. Muzquiz was "a picturesque Mexican village of 6,000 population," wrote Marsh, "lying off the south escarpment of the Santa Rosa Mountains." He had learned that "for many years this town was the most important mining center of northern Coahuila," a distinction that had faded with time. "Coal, copper and silver are still mined," reported Marsh, and "ranching has grown much in importance over the last twenty years." Thus "the little town of Muzquiz now devotes the major part of its business toward the several large ranches extending to the east and north." Two of these ranches ("El Zacate" and "La Encantada") were owned by Americans, and could be reached "by journeying east from Muzquiz, and north through the Santa Anna Canyon." Beyond the Encantada ranch, "there is no road for vehicles," said Marsh, "and to reach the great FRESNOS MESA country one must travel by horse." In Santa Anna Canyon, Marsh found "a forty mile expanse of walled valleys, offering the one gateway to the west." From there "a seldom used trail strikes west from the Zacate to cross the arid west plains of Coahuila and into the State of Chihuahua." [39]

To the east of Muzquiz, and "swinging north around the southern tip of the Carmen escarpment," said Marsh, were "three other ranches, LA MARIPOSA, LA GACHA, and LA ROSITA." Marsh found there "deep canyons and grass-filled valleys radiating down from the mountains [that] furnish them with abundant pasture lands." To the north of La Rosita he encountered "the famous LA BAVIA ranch, once owned by Spanish royalty, but now by an American capitalist." Marsh described the ranch as "a great valley floor 40 miles from east to west, and 100 miles long, watered by mountain springs." This he called "the most perfect ranching country in all of northern Coahuila." Beyond La Bavia to the north Marsh found Santo Domingo, "a German owned ranch," and Conejo, "a government inspection post inhabited by two customs officials." The small village of Piedra Blanca was "ranching territory owned by an American living in Del Rio, Texas," wrote Marsh. He marveled at the grandeur of El Jardin, "a local term applied to the highest and most northern peak of the Del Carmen mountains." This term also applied "to the extensive land holdings of a Mexican diplomat," and constituted "the Jardin Ranch which includes almost the whole of the northern Carmens, west to the Chihuahua line and north to Boquillas." Within the ranch, Marsh found the "American Club," "probably the most beautiful part of the lovely Carmen Mountains, owned by a party of American sportsmen who visit there during the hunting seasons." The eastern terminus of Marsh's journey was Boquillas, which he described in his 1936 report as "a small Mexican border town of 200 inhabitants, located near the southern tip of the Big Bend area, originally settled as a gate for the transportation of mineral ore from the Carmens into Texas." With the decline of the mining industry, said Marsh, Boquillas was "now dependent upon the small cattle and goat farms along the Rio Grande River and the Fronteriza Escarpment." [40]