BUREAU OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
The University of Texas at Austin
Peter T. Flawn, Director
Guidebook 8
The Geologic Story of Palo Duro Canyon
By
William H. Matthews III
August 1969
Second Printing
August 1983
Contents
[Introduction] 1 [Acknowledgments] 2 [Park history] 3 [Ancient man in Palo Duro Canyon] 3 [Indians of the Plains] 3 [Advent of the White Man] 3 [Regional setting] 8 [The geologic story] 10 [The canyon’s rocks and minerals] 10 [Unraveling earth history] 10 [The geologic column and geologic time scale] 12 [Geologic formations exposed in Palo Duro Canyon] 16 [Quartermaster Formation] 17 [Tecovas Formation] 19 [Trujillo Formation] 22 [Ogallala Formation] 23 [Rocks of the Pleistocene] 28 [How the canyon was carved] 29 [The geologic work of running water] 29 [Weathering and gravity add the final touch] 30 [Weathering] 30 [Mass-wasting] 31 [Differential erosion] 31 [What to do and see at Palo Duro Canyon State Park] 33 [Park Entrance] 33 [Coronado Lodge and Observation Point] 33 [The Scenic Drive] 33 [Pioneer Amphitheatre] 33 [Sad Monkey Train Ride] 35 [Triassic Peak] 35 [Spanish Skirts] 37 [Catarina Cave] 37 [Santana’s Face] 37 [The Sky Ride] 37 [The First Water Crossing] 39 [Colonel Charles Goodnight’s Dugout] 39 [The Lighthouse] 39 [Capitol Peak] 40 [Fortress Cliff] 40 [The Rock Garden] 40 [The Devil’s Slide] 40 [The Turnaround] 41 [Hiking] 43 [Horseback riding] 43 [Camping and picnicking] 43 [Photography] 43 [Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum] 45 [Selected references] 47 [Glossary] 48 [Index] 50