Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i Texas Highways Magazine

When writer and historian Scott Zesch walks through the central square of Mason, everybody he meets has something to say, a question to ask, or a handshake to offer. You’re likely to be a familiar fellow around town when your great-great grandfather settled in the area from Germany in the mid-1850s, you went to Mason High School, and you’re known for throwing rollicking chili parties. First settled as a fort in 1851, Mason formed as a community of Old World settlers scratching out a new life in harsh Comanche country. Zesch brings this history to life in his award-winning book, The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier, which chronicles the lives of nine kidnapped children, including his great-great-great uncle Adolph Korn. Here Zesch, who…

Deep in the heart of a ranch sprawling across the foothills of the Chinati Mountains, a stand of dark-green creosote bushes contrasts with the rocky landscape. The August weather is hot and dry, but these plants have some secret source of water. Candace Covington discovered them several years ago while helping with one of several archaeological digs on the ranch. Covington, an Alpine resident, harvests the waxy leaves of these bushes to make Creosote Bush Salve, a concoction she first whipped up while working as a river guide in Terlingua. “Getting in and out of the Rio Grande every day and this harsh, dry environment gave the guides painful cracks on their heels and hands,” she says. “I made a large bowl of salve from locally available creosote bush and…

WITH ITS AWE-INSPIRING MOUNTAIN PEAKS, DESERT VISTAS, AND canyon-carving river, Big Bend National Park draws visitors from across Texas and around the globe. To celebrate the park’s first three-quarters of a century, this special section leads off with six dramatic photographs by Rob Decker, who captures the splendor of Big Bend in black and white. For people who’d rather see these iconic landscapes for themselves—but fear the possibility of a vacation devolving into a desert survival exercise—Senior Editor Matt Joyce suggests three itineraries for a non-extreme park experience. And acclaimed writer and illustrator Edward Carey visits the old Terlingua mining town, where he finds desert dwellers who coexist with the ghosts who came long ago. It’s this type of mystical blend that keeps drawing us back to Big Bend—there’s always…

LA KIVA 23220 FM 170, Terlingua. 432-371-2250 Open Sun-Fri 5 p.m.-midnight; Sat 5 p.m.- 1 a.m. On the banks of Terlingua Creek, a ramp leads down into La Kiva, one of the most famous bar/restaurants in the Big Bend area. In Hopi culture, a kiva is an underground chamber used for religious and political meetings. But this kiva is a meeting place for the dreamers, lost souls, river guides, and tourists who are drawn to the old mining town and surrounding desert. La Kiva feels almost subterranean with its soft lighting, stone walls, and wood beams. The kitchen turns out excellent food at reasonable prices—burgers, pizzas, steaks, and barbecue. Wednesday is open mic night, Thursday night features a guitarist, and on Friday and Saturday nights rock ’n’ roll acts take…

A. Slim Wallet $60.00 Made in Austin by Son of a Sailor. 37580 B. True Texan Patch $50.00 Made in Austin by Die Trying 37769 C. Cowboy Print $45-$100.00 Created in Houston by Rainy Day Illustrations 32235 D. Armadillo Tee $24.95 Designed in Austin by Texas Highways 38306 E. Dopp Kit $52.00 Made in Austin by Newton Supply Co. 37428 F. Neck Tie $75.00 Designed in Houston by Paris Texas Apparel Co. 38810 Order Online shop.texashighways.com Or call 800-839-4997 (903-636-1123 from outside the U.S.A.) Or use the order form in this issue on page 49.…

“Big Bend in Black & White” (Page 28) spotlights Rob Decker’s photos of Big Bend National Park. Decker, who studied under Ansel Adams, is currently on a mission to photograph all of the United States’ national parks. He also creates WPA-style promotional posters for the parks based off his photos. (His posters are available for purchase on national-park-posters.com. Decker donates 10 percent of profits to park conservancies and associations.) So far, he’s snapped 43 of the 60 national parks, and plans to visit Denali in Alaska, Congaree in South Carolina, Isle Royale in Michigan, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri—the newest national park—in 2019. Decker, who visited and shot Big Bend in 2017, says, “My experience at Big Bend reminded me that you have to spend as much…

Seven years ago, I thought of Texas primarily as an obstacle, a mind-numbingly long stretch of highway between Baltimore, where I was coming from, and Los Angeles, where I was going. I was at a peculiar junction in my life, trying to figure out where I wanted to live. Because most of my work was online, it could’ve been anywhere, and that was intimidating but also liberating. California seemed like the kind of place a young woman trying to make a life for herself might go. When I started driving through the Big Bend region of Texas, I quickly revised my opinion about a state I had previously dismissed. The sky in far West Texas astonished me. Not just because of its beauty—though that was certainly a factor—but, even more…

COME AND TAKE IT BBQ 2612 W. Highway 90, Alpine. 432-837-4227; comeandtakeitbbqtx.com A longside traditional barbecue sauces and fixins, an unusual accoutrement kicks things up a notch at Come and Take It BBQ in Alpine. A salsa with origins in Northern Mexico known as chile macho graces the eatery’s tables, as it does many across West Texas. Owner Scott Turner uses a chile macho recipe he learned from his childhood best friend’s mother, Terlingua resident Dominga Acosta. “Dominga was like my second mom,” Turner says. “She made it fresh for her family every day.” Acosta, now in her 70s, learned how to make it from her mother—her family’s roots in the region go back 200 years. “Chile macho was in all the houses in Santa Elena and Castolon when I…

There are places in the far reaches of Texas where few dare to travel, which is exactly what attracted me to western Val Verde County. It’s a rugged land where the jackrabbits far outnumber the people. A place where the tales are tall, the canyons are deep, and the mysteries are even deeper. If you find yourself trippin’ to the edge of Texas, don’t miss these stops. 1 Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site This remote park sits along the rim of one of the most impressive canyons in Texas and holds some of the oldest rock art in North America at an estimated 4,000 years old. Take a guided tour into the canyon and through a rock shelter known as the “Fate Bell Site.” Here you can ogle…

Jaw-dropping hikes like the Window Trail and South Rim draw visitors back to Big Bend National Park year after year. But with 1,252 square miles to roam, the park also teems with trails less traveled. Many visitors stick to five or six popular trails, but for hikers who want to go farther, go wilder, and get off the beaten path, park officials recommend these four secluded options. 1 Ernst Tinaja A slow and bumpy 5-mile drive on Old Ore Road is just a prelude to a hike through the hottest and driest part of the park to reach this out-of-the-way oasis. But the payoff is worth it: a deep pool of water surrounded by swirling orange rock formations embedded with fossils of prehistoric oysters and other geologic humdingers. The road…

San Antonio 3.75 hours Austin 5 hours Houston 5 hours Dallas 8 hours The business loop of US 77 running through Harlingen is called Sunshine Strip, and the name couldn’t be more accurate. Harlingen boasts February highs of around 73 degrees and an average of only three days of rain for the entire month. For decades, snowbirds from across the United States and Canada have made the city a winter home; the airport even has seasonal direct flights from Minneapolis, Chicago, and Denver. But there is more to Harlingen than just sunshine and coastal breezes. Known as the “Capital of the Rio Grande Valley,” Harlingen isn’t just the geographical center of the region, it’s also the heart of the Valley’s vibrant history and culture. A weekend in Harlingen is an…

THE CAPRI AT THUNDERBIRD HOTEL Marfa 603 W. San Antonio St. 432-729-1984; thunderbirdmarfa.com You can belly up to any bar in West Texas, whether it’s a dark dive or a glamorous hotel, and, without even glancing at a menu, order a ranch water. Heck, these days, you can do that at pretty much any bar in Texas. The simple cocktail has developed quite the fan base, and it’s led to contested origin stories and bubbling debate about the proper ingredients. While the eminently drinkable cocktail (it’s no coincidence “water” is part of the name) is widespread in Austin and San Antonio, ranch water may taste best in West Texas, a land of big skies, blazing days, cool nights, and slow pace. The basic building blocks of ranch water are lime,…

Arts & Culture CENTRAL TEXAS Fredericksburg Monty Python’s Spamalot Feb. 15-March 3 This British comedy parodies the legend of King Arthur and his band of haphazard knights as they sing and dance their way through an inane divine quest for the Holy Grail. Steve W. Shepherd Theater, 1668 S. US 87. 830-997-3588; fredericksburgtheater.org College Station Frankenstein Feb. 26 Written 200 years ago, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was the first true science fiction novel and has inspired countless film and stage adaptations, like this one. Often thought of as “just a monster story,” Frankenstein raises an important question that is still relevant today—just because it can be done, should it be done? Rudder Theatre, 401 Joe Routt Blvd. 979-845-1234; mscopas.org NORTH TEXAS / PANHANDLE Cleburne Newsies the Musical Feb. 1-March 2 Based…