Fig. 3. The face carved on this boulder can be seen along the track of the Sad Monkey Railroad ([p. 35]). It is believed to have been carved by Indians.
Fig. 4. The war bonnet, war lance, and head feathers of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker can be seen at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon. (Photograph courtesy Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.)
From the late 1800s until about 1930, the Palo Duro country remained the domain of the Panhandle-Plains cattleman. It was, nonetheless, a favorite picnic and camping spot of the residents of nearby towns and cities. In 1933 the recreational potential of the canyon was finally recognized and land for the Palo Duro Canyon State Park was purchased by the State of Texas with money obtained through a public revenue bond issue. Today, most of the park revenue received through gate admissions, concession receipts, and [mineral] leases goes into a fund that pays off the remaining balance of the revenue bonds. During the initial phase of the park’s development, most of the improvements in the area were made by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps who worked under the supervision of the National Park Service.
Currently, Palo Duro Canyon State Park is visited by approximately 300,000 visitors each year and is one of the State’s more popular recreational and scenic areas.
REGIONAL SETTING
Palo Duro Canyon State Park is located in the Panhandle of Texas ([fig. 5]) approximately 13 miles east of Canyon on State Highway 217 (see [fig. 7]). It is about 12 miles south and 8 miles east of Amarillo via Ranch Road 1541 which intersects State Highway 217. The park includes more than 15,000 acres of Palo Duro Canyon, a complexly dissected area which spreads into Randall, Armstrong, and Briscoe counties.
More specifically, the Palo Duro area is situated on the Llano Estacado or High Plains area which comprises approximately 20,000 square miles of Texas and New Mexico (see [fig. 5]). Generally speaking, the Llano Estacado is a high isolated plateau or broad mesa, rising above the surrounding rolling plains in a nearly flat, island-like mass. On the west, southwest, and south, the Llano Estacado is bounded by the valley of the Pecos River, while its eastern escarpment is drained by the headwaters of the Red, Brazos, and Colorado Rivers.
The rim of Palo Duro Canyon is formed by the Eastern Caprock Escarpment. Caprock is the term used to describe a massive layer of calcareous [rock] which supports the High Plains surface (see [p. 26]). Because it is more resistant to forces of erosion than the softer, underlying more or less horizontal [strata], the caprock forms an abrupt, precipitous escarpment at the edge of the High Plains. With the exception of the resistant caprock, however, the surficial deposits on the High Plains are for the most part unconsolidated [sediments].
The Llano Estacado is essentially devoid of native trees and is characterized by a sparse, but uniform, covering of grasses. The surface [rocks] are of Tertiary and Quaternary age (see [geologic time scale], [fig. 6]) and have a general easterly to southeasterly slope of about 9½ feet per mile. In the vicinity of Palo Duro Canyon, rocks of Late [Cenozoic] age are directly underlain by [Permian] and Triassic [formations]. These Permian and Triassic rocks, which are discussed elsewhere in this publication, are not normally exposed except in deeply eroded areas such as the canyon.