Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country

IV. Looking for Water: Across Tornillo Flats to Ernst Tinaja

LOOKING FOR WATER Across Tornillo Flats to Ernst Tinaja IV. 64 : LOOKING FOR WATER 43. Dugout Wells Estufa Hills In the desert, water is life. A dot of green in a sea of brown, the small oasis known as Dugout Wells (left) offered water from a spring and the shade of cottonwood trees to weary travelers. Seven miles from Panther Junction, the place remains a sanctuary for desert wildlife and is a prime spot for bird watching. In the early 1900s a small community formed around the well, and a small school was built. The windmill and ruins remain today. From bottom to top are Dugout Draw, Park Route 12, the Estufa Hills, and the Rosillos Mountains. 44. Tornillo Creek Chihuahuan Desert southeast of Panther Junction Beneath the Rosillos Mountains sometimes flows Tornillo Creek, named after the screwbean mesquite tree, or tornillo in Spanish. The twisting creek bed, often dry, turns into a brown torrent in flash floods following desert thunderstorms even miles away. The surrounding Tornillo Flat was the main route of the Great Comanche War Trail, which passed through Persimmon Gap, visible in the far distance to the north. Today Texas Highway 385 follows a similar path through the natural pass in the Santiago Mountains. The openness of this winsome desert scene lured me, and I included this picture to communicate the immensity of this expansive no-man’s-land. : 67 45. The Land of Ernst Seven miles northwest of Boquillas From right to left are Ernst Basin, Ernst Tinaja, Tornillo Flat, and Tornillo Creek. Many landmarks in the area were named after Max A. Ernst, a German immigrant who leased land in this area that included a water hole named the Big Tinaja. Ernst lived in La Noria, which was located along Tornillo Creek (left). Ernst wore many hats, including notary public , justice of the peace, coroner, rancher, shop owner, county commissioner, and postmaster of Boquillas. He was murdered by gunshot in 1908. 46. Old Ore Road West of Ernst Tinaja The Old Ore Road is seen as a thread of white running from top to bottom in this view. The road follows the path used in the early 1900s by pack mule trains to transport silver and lead ore from mines in the Sierra del Carmen, Mexico, to the Marathon, Texas, railroad station. Although Ernst Tinaja is hardly visited by tourists, it is one of my favorite places due to the natural beauty as seen from the air, especially the alligator-like ridge named Cuesta Carlota. 47. Ernst Tinaja Six miles north of Rio Grande Village Tinaja, the Spanish word for jar, is the term used for natural depressions in the bedrock of stream beds that hold water. In this way, even when a desert stream has no flow, the tinaja stores life-giving water and often supports a unique ecosystem. For ages both people and wildlife have used these geologic cisterns to survive their treks through the desert. The tinajas can also turn into traps for unwary animals that fall into the sunken pools and cannot escape. Ernst Tinaja is the largest of a series of tinajas in this area. It was formed by erosion in an intermittently flowing creek bed that passes through Cuesta Carlota. Cuesta, Spanish for slope, is the term for a ridge with a steep side and a gentle side. Cuesta Carlota, which runs north to south, was formed by a fault line passing along the east side of the ridge, thereby making a steeper slope on one side. 70 : LOOKING FOR WATER 48. Ernst Valley Four miles north of Boquillas To the right is Ernst Valley and to the left is Ernst Basin. Ruins of the Ore Terminal Aerial Tramway are located in the lower left corner. The tramway buckets carried silver and lead ore from mines in the Sierra del Carmen across the Rio Grande. From the end of the tramway, teamsters freighted the ore in wagons to the railroad at Marathon , Texas. The ingenious aerial tramway utilized a moving steel cable supported by timber towers to transport ore across the river and the rugged countryside. ...