Waco, TX
Waco is a city of about 135,000 people situated on the west bank of the Brazos River between Dallas and Austin. Proud home to Baylor University, Waco was founded in 1849 near a spring on the west side of the Brazos, a wide languid rope of water that meanders across the central Texas landscape, serving as a source of water for life for thousands of years. The massive glaciers that covered North America during the Ice Ages did not travel as far south as central Texas and during those eons this area was a lush grassland, teeming with pre-historic life. A chance discovery just north of Waco in 1978 brought a vivid reminder of the struggle for survival during the Ice Ages.
Waco Mammoth National Monument
In 1978 two young men were working on a local dairy farm north of Waco, clearing brush from a small depression in order to help water flow during storms and reduce flooding. While clearing brush they uncovered what they first thought was a human skull but, upon further digging, found it to be the end of a large bone. Immediately sensing that this was not an “ordinary” bone, they took it to scientists at Baylor University and it was found to be a 68,000 year old leg bone from a Columbian Mammoth. Further excavation found that the ravine was the burial site of a nursery herd of Columbian mammoths made up of adult females and children. All had perished together, although the means of their death is still under investigation. Because the ravine was prone to frequent flooding, the bones were removed and are stored at Baylor University. However, in the process of removing the nursery bones, additional bones were found on upper east bank of the site. This area is now preserved inside a large hanger and comprises the Waco Mammoth National Monument. The ravine where the nursery herd was found is under the small bridge on the right, the large building on the left houses the current site.
The hanger is simply one large open space protecting the excavation from weather (and tourists). Access is tightly controlled and one can only enter as part of a supervised tour group. Columbian mammoths were nearly 14 feet tall and an artist has recreated a life-size painting of one on the far wall. To the right is an artistic rendition of the nursery herd.
A ranger standing in front of the life-size rendering of an adult Columbian Mammoth (about 14 feet tall) gives a very informative explanation during the 45 minute tour of the building as we look down upon the actual fossils that have been left visible for the public.
Across the way is a artist’s interpretation of what the nursery herd might have looked like.
One of the most interesting facts is that there was a somewhat symbiotic relationship between mammoths and camels. The mammoths, though large, had very poor eyesight. Camels hung around the edges of the herd for protection and, in turn, the mammoths relied upon the camels’ keen eyesight for warnings of danger. A fossilized camel was found near the nursery herd.
A replica of that first leg bone found by the boys’ shows how the end sticking up out of the ground could be easily be mistaken for a human skull.
Definitely an interesting stop at the beginning of my chronological journey around Waco!
The plains around Waco were home to Native American tribes until displaced by settlement as the Spanish to the south in Mexico and the Americans from the United States to the east struggled over the ownership of the land now called Texas. The United States won the contest and the Texas “gold” rush was on. At that time Texas “gold” was cattle. Thousands of the famous longhorn cattle roamed the plains, getting fat on the lush grasslands and then gathered up into huge herds that were driven north and east to the hungry multitudes of the large cities. A small settlement quickly grew up around a spring on the west bank of the Brazos River and became the town of Waco. In 1866 the town banded together to fund the building of a suspension bridge over the Brazos and, in doing so, cemented Waco’s place as an important business center astride the cattle routes of central Texas. The bridge, completed in 1870, still stands today as a pedestrian walkway at the entrance to the city with a magnificent bronze herd of cattle huddling at the western end of the bridge preparing to head east.
After walking east across the bridge I turn and take a picture through the arch towards downtown Waco.
As pressure of settlement increased along the frontier the need for law enforcement increased. First in response to the Indian wars, then as the agency responsible for law and order along the frontier, the storied Texas Rangers became an integral part of Texas history. Their legacy is celebrated at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum on the banks of the Brazos in Waco.
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
The history of the Texas Rangers begins in 1823 during the Mexican period when a company of men was formed to protect settlers along the Texas coast from Indian raids. Over the ensuing years bands of men formed and disbanded as needed in response to local needs. The actual official name of “Texas Rangers” didn’t actually appear in government documents until 1874 when two battalions of men were officially formed to deal with the lawless along the frontier as cattlemen, farmers and miners came into conflict with natives and each other. The legend was born…
The museum celebrates the men of the Texas Rangers and begins by commemorating a number of specific families who contributed men to the Rangers over generations, in some cases up to four generations from the same family.
The Rangers adapted equipment from both sides of the Rio Grande to meet their needs and extensive displays document the belongings used along the frontier.
The history of the Texas Rangers would not be complete without documenting the impact of the evolution of the gun on the West, which was critical to the subjugation of the Indians. The Indians actually were winning the war of keeping the wave of white settlement off the Texas plains until the mid-1830’s. Up until that time whites used single shot muzzle loader rifles that required up to a full minute or more to reload after each shot. The Indians quickly learned to let the white men exhaust their shots and then close in and kill with arrows while the white men were trying to reload. This dynamic all changed when Samuel Colt invented the first repeating revolver in 1836 and lead to the supremacy of the white conquest of the West.
And, of course, no history of the Texas Rangers would be complete without celebrating one of the most famous Rangers of them all, the Lone Ranger and his sidekick, Tonto, dear to the heart of every young man who grew up in the 1950’s and early 1960’s…
Next up: The Business of Waco
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