Cowboy Life along the Llano Estacado Eastern Escarpment of Northwest Texas: Insights from Macy Locality 16 (41GR722)

Hurst, Stance; Ward, Dallas C.; Johnson, Eileen; Cunningham, Doug

doi:10.1007/s41636-018-0098-7

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The occurrence of aquatic and wetland taxa at Macy Locality 100 is consistent with interpretations developed from the corresponding sediments. Various taxa are indicative of abundant stream, pond, marsh, and mudflat settings in the Macy Fork during the Late Pleistocene deposition of units 1 and 2 [5]. Macy Locality 100 arvicolines with mesic affinities are extirpated from the region in the Early Holocene by~8500 14 C yr B.P.…”

Section: Local Archaeological and Paleontological Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the past 11 years, research activities in the uppermost reaches of Spring Creek on the eastern edge of the Southern High Plains, Texas, have identified, explored, and excavated a series of Late Pleistocene vertebrate faunal localities and Holocene archaeological sites [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. In addition to faunal and cultural studies, the research effort also has involved intensive investigation of associated Spring Creek depositional patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Geochronology of the Spring Creek Drainage along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas

2021

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The eastern escarpment breaks of the Southern High Plains of Texas are both a geomorphic and ecotonal transition zone from the high plains surface to the Rolling Plains below. The geoarchaeological record on the Southern High Plains surface is well documented, but few studies have investigated the sediments, soils, and geochronology of the eastern escarpment. The current investigation has targeted the discontinuous remnants of Late Quaternary deposits within Spring Creek, a tributary within the upper Brazos River basin. A total of 19 profiles, core, and isolated exposure locations placed along a transect from Macy Fork through upper Spring Creek and 40 radiocarbon ages provide a composite sequence and geochronology that also documents the Late Pleistocene to Late Holocene paleoenvironments of this drainage. The resulting record illustrates a series of major changes in sediments and local habitats over the past ~11,550 radiocarbon years (13,469–13,390 calendar years), characterized primarily by reductions in available water and increasing aridity that peaked during the middle Holocene. This sequence provides significant context to an expanding record of Late Pleistocene to middle Holocene biota and cultures. Subsequent downcutting of the drainage post-6000 14C yr B.P. (6988–6744 calendar years) removed large sections of the depositional sequence. Local topography within Spring Creek drainage greatly impacted the preservation of these deposits. The remaining record provides some different insights than those available from the Southern High Plains record.

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Section: Local Archaeological and Paleontological Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Geochronology of the Spring Creek Drainage along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas

2021

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“…The cowboys of the Western United States are perhaps the most historically acknowledged [17] and romanticized group of cattle wranglers. Nevertheless, few archaeological studies have focused on cattle ranching in Northwest Texas [18] or the greater American West [19]. The culture of cattle ranching also has developed in many other parts of the world and is shared globally [20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

Section: Archaeology Of Cattle Ranchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ranch headquarters typically contains permanent housing and other infrastructure facilities that leave a longer-lasting archaeological and historical record [18,30]. Activities in the peripheral region of cattle ranches often are more short-term; therefore, material culture, historical records, and local memory is limited [31].…”

Section: Archaeology Of Cattle Ranchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As part of a broader agenda, survey and excavation of sites related to cattle ranching on the historic U-Lazy-S Ranch have been ongoing since 2008. Several types of ranchingrelated sites have been found: a ranch headquarters; dugouts; campsites, historical scatters; a roundup camp [18]; windmills; tanks; fence lines, and pens (corrals). Historical records and family memory have provided some information on ranch-related sites [31].…”

Section: Research On the U-lazy-s Ranch: Rollie Burn's Historic Cattl...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aerial Photogrammetry in the American West: Documenting the Construction of Cattle Water Tanks by Texas Cowboys

et al. 2021

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Aerial photogrammetry is increasingly being used to discover, document, and interpret the cultural heritage of landscapes. Information on the constructed cultural heritage left behind by the first cattle ranchers in the American West is being lost as the land is transformed and modified, and stewardship of the land changes across generations. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been used in this research to record and interpret two surface water cattle tanks constructed by Texas cowboys in the mid-1880s. Similar size rocks have been used and placed in a similar pattern across the walls of both tanks. This similarity suggests both tanks were constructed at the same time. This research also demonstrates that UAV photogrammetry can be used to rapidly record and analyze the constructed cultural heritage of American West cowboys.

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Topographic Thresholds and Soil Preservation along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas, USA

2020

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The eastern escarpment of the Southern High Plains (USA) is today a semi-arid erosional landscape delineated by canyon breaks and topographic relief. A series of buried soils were identified, described, and sampled at 19 soil profile localities exposed along terraces of the South Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River (South Fork) and two associated tributaries (Spring Creek and Macy 285 drainage). Radiocarbon dating revealed late-Pleistocene to early Holocene (~12,580–9100 14C B.P.), middle-Holocene (~6025–4600 14C B.P.), and late-Holocene (~2000–800 14C B.P.) buried soils. The late-Pleistocene to middle-Holocene soils were preserved only at higher elevations within the upper section of the South Fork and Spring Creek. A topographic position analysis was conducted using GIS to identify and examine the impacts of a soil topographic threshold on the preservation and distribution of buried soils within this geomorphic system. Above the identified ~810 m threshold, lateral migration of channels was constrained. Extensive channel migration below the threshold removed older terraces that were replaced with late-Holocene terraces and associated buried soils. Landscape topography constraints on geomorphic processes and soil formation impacted the preservation of archaeological sites in this semi-arid region.

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Cowboy Life along the Llano Estacado Eastern Escarpment of Northwest Texas: Insights from Macy Locality 16 (41GR722)

Cited by 3 publications

References 24 publications

Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Geochronology of the Spring Creek Drainage along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas

Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Geochronology of the Spring Creek Drainage along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas

Aerial Photogrammetry in the American West: Documenting the Construction of Cattle Water Tanks by Texas Cowboys

Topographic Thresholds and Soil Preservation along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas, USA

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