In the Shadow of the Chinatis: A History of Pinto Canyon in the Big Bend by David W. Keller (review)

David Keller has written an exhaustive study of one of the most remote places in Texas and in the Southwest. While the history of Pinto Canyon and its environs encompasses a vast geological and geographical landscape that has inevitably served to filter out all but the most industrious of settlers, Keller shows how the history and culture of Far West Texas remain inextricably tied to its connection to Mexico. This alone seems to be an especially relevant component of the present-day goings on along the border, and the harsh landscape below the rimrock has truly defined the kind of slow and treacherous development from bold stakeholders. But the history of this area is within arm's reach, and Keller lays this history out to us in chronological order, separating chapters into important eras and events. As a senior project archaeologist for the Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross University, Keller's research encompasses both the physical and social aspects of the landscape, and he gives the reader a deep and holistic view of its history.

Beyond the "crumbling rock and adobe ruins tucked within this remote canyon" (viii), the families that attempted to create a life for themselves are resolute and proud, and the most notable among them is the Prieto family. This is also the most devastating part of the history, but Keller has written in beautiful prose the story of the patriarch, José Prieto, his wife Juanita, and their large and diverse family. The tragic death of José's scholarly son Pablo at the hands of Texas Rangers in 1934, coupled with the unfortunate acquittal soon after at the Presidio County Courthouse in Marfa, reminds us that there is often no fairness in life, and this might ring more true in a landscape as barren as this one. And although José found an ally and friend in another settler, James E. Wilson, moments of racial harmony are contrasted against racial unrest, such as José's son Gregorio's blatant distaste for Anglos.

Although many ranches were at times prosperous with sheep, cattle, and goat herds, drought defines much of the history of Pinto Canyon, as it does in any region of the Southwest. As the 1940s remain "the last great decade of ranching" (178), the drought of the 1950s and uncertain future thereafter opened the door for a changing of the guard in land ownership and intention. Keller writes of the millionaire A. J. Rod's purchase of Pinto Canyon Ranch as an investment and hunting retreat, and of Rod's ghastly bulldozing of roads into the landscape to provide easier access for himself and his visitors. Fortunately, this damage to the land has been somewhat contained. In other ranches and under the guidance of progressive owners, the landscape has become one of preservation and conservation, at first at the hands of the artist Donald Judd, and most recently with the largesse of Jeff Fort, who has sponsored Mr. Keller in his endeavor at better understanding and chronicling these shadows of the Chinatis. Scholars of Texas and the greater Southwest will benefit from Mr. Keller's well-researched and thoughtful narrative.