Seminole Canyon, located nine miles west of Comstock, Texas off US 90, features petrography painted by natives over 4,000 years ago. When Egypt was beginning to build its pyramids, the local native forager shamans would paint their dreams on the walls and ceilings of the shelters along this canyon.
His favorite color was red: a mixture of ocher rock, yucca juice or sotol, and venison fat. Due to the darkness and shelter from the wind and other elements, much of the petrography has survived to this day. They were painted on limestone. Their once brilliant colors have been obscured by soot and smoke from many fires started by natives in these shelters.
Many shamans are represented holding an atalatl. They have human or animal feet. Some have the head of a cougar and the antlers of a deer. Their arms are outstretched and they have medicine bags hanging from their wrists. Sometimes her arms are depicted as wings.
Two plants were the shaman’s favorites for causing hallucinations and visions: peyote and datura. The peyote cult was represented as red or black balls. Holding a plant, he represented the cult of datura.
A circle always represented the entrance to the spirit world. A wavy line shows the way. On the other side there is usually a monster of some sort. The monster has a spear stuck in it.
Many of the petrographers have succumbed to the elements and limestone stains and the ravages of man.
Tours of this petrography are given daily. Plan to spend about two hours for the tour: an hour and a half for the tour itself and another half hour to get back to the visitor center. The descent into the canyon is over 800 feet, down uneven stone stairs. Then you have to ascend to the two shelters. There are places to rest along the way. Drink water and dress in layers.
Another twenty-five miles to the west is the small town of Langtry. Judge Roy Bean called this town home. He was appointed Justice of the Peace with the help of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which ran from New Orleans to San Francisco. He quickly dispensed justice under the Western Pecos Law. He ran a salon called Jersey Lilly, named after British actress Lillie Langtry. He was in love with her photo and wrote her many letters inviting her to visit. He even told her that she named the town after her. When he arrived for the visit in 1904, Judge Bean had been dead for four months and was buried in Del Rio, Texas.
When a prisoner was brought in, Judge Bean would lock up the hall, select a jury from among his clients, and conduct the trial, with the Texas Revised Statutes of 1879 and a pistol on the desk. He assumed the reputation of “The Hanging Judge”. Records, however, show that he never hanged anyone. For a cattle or horse rustler, the punishment was expulsion from Langtry and confiscation of his horse, gun, and all other property. If the person ever came back, then he would be hanged. Few survived crossing this wasteland without horses and firearms.
In the state-of-the-art visitor center there is a fifteen-minute film depicting the life and times of Judge Roy Bean. Jersey Lilly’s Saloon and Pool Room, and Roy Bean’s Opera House and Seat of Justice (his home) where he wanted Lillie Langtry to perform for him. An interpretive trail of the cactus garden completes the attractions of this site.
Langtry is a bustling town of thirty inhabitants. Meals are almost nonexistent. So bring your own or stop in Comstock or further west.
Be sure to stop at the Pecos River overlook. Looking south you see where the river empties into the Rio Grande and the hills of Mexico. To the north is Highway 90 and the sheer cliffs along this mighty river. Along US 90 Border Patrol agents are seen in their cars looking for illegals who have crossed the river and are attempting to cross into the Sonoran Desert.