Heritage, Volume 7, Number 3, Summer 1989 Page: 17
31 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
ABOVE: The approach to Site 4 and the 27-foot long "Storyteller Woman."
RIGHT: A section of panel. Note the manlike figure on the far right with a cross
protruding from the top of his head. An early view of Christian missionaries?pollution sources on the planet. And
where is the concrete material going to
come from? "Why, there's all that limestone
out there just waiting to be quarried!"
-the limestone enclosing the Cox formation,
the iron-red sandstone strata holding
our messages from yesterday, our link with
the past.
Remember Network, the movie about
the television industry where the actor
playing the leading role sticks his head out
the window and shouts, "I'm mad as hell
and I'm not going to take it anymore"?
Much to its surprise, the Low Level Etc.
Authority found a groundswell of opposition
to what it had thought was a reasonable
plan. El Paso County threatened to
bring suit against the agency if it persisted
in its ill-chosen project. The people of
Hudspeth County milled around in angry
confusion, not knowing what their politicians
were up to from one moment to the
next. The initial opposition from the
Hudspeth politicos melted like magic, and
Hudspeth announced its intention of withdrawing
from the suit El Paso County
planned.Seemingly unmoved by all the brouhaha,
the agency moved inexorably ahead,
ignoring the verbal flak that was falling all
around their heads. They had a job to do
and no one was going to swerve them from
it. Into the act then stepped the Rio
Grande Council of Governments. More
surveys were commissioned. Earthquake
faults were found to crisscross all through
that area. It was also right in the middle of
a hundred-year flood plain. Flooding
would see the danger of the "safe" atomic
garbage filtering down to the Rio Grande.
Someone identified only as a state official
announced in the press that yes, there
was rock art in the area, but that it didn't
amount to much. This is tantamount to
saying you could pick up the crown jewels
of England at a five-and-dime store.
In the meantime the fight goes on.
Experts from the Texas Historical Commission
came to inspect the sites. Alamo
Canyon was nominated to the National
Register of Historical Places in the record
time of one month. National Park Service
experts came to visit, pressed by El Paso
Congressman Ron Coleman, one of therare men who cares about our West Texas
desertland and the treasures it holds.
Outlook? A state park is the best and
most immediate solution, with an interpretive
center set up at Site One, guarding the
approaches to the rest of the sites. Only the
six-letter word "budget" stands in the way.
Our priorities, both state and federal, have
become badly skewed in recent years. A
national park is warranted, and ultimately
national monument status for the wealth of
sites stretching from Alamo Canyon up to
Three Rivers in New Mexico.
The sites at Alamo Canyon are irreplaceable
cultural resources. If their destruction
is allowed, we shall all be the
poorer for generations to come. The fight
affects every single one of us wherever we
may be, because it is part of our common
heritage that is at stake out in that finger
canyon mesa-land.
And we can ill afford to lose it.
Alex Apostolides is an archaeologist and
writer/producer of The Edge of Texas radio
show in El Paso.HERITAGE * SUMMER 1989 17
- F~~~~~
i
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 7, Number 3, Summer 1989, periodical, Summer 1989; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45431/m1/17/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.