Where the 'Buffalo' Roamed

By Darla Bracken fridarla19@yahoo.com

Millions of years ago, according to modern science during the Ice Age, our area was not inhabited by man. Man, the hunter, came along later following the animals across the Bering Strait when it was in a frozen state. Ever migrating southward in search of a warmer climate and a more plentiful food supply, both man and beast eventually came to the area we now know as the Panhandle of Texas. As evidenced in archeological discoveries in our neighboring areas of Folsom Man in 1908, Clovis Man in 1929, and the Woolly Mammoth “Easter Elephant” in the 80s near Easter, Texas. The woolly mammoth and the ancient bison were among the nomadic animals found in our area in this timeless cycle of man, food and survival. Evidence has included fossilized bones, various examples of projectile points and even footprints in some cases. Many arrowheads have been found in Parmer County as several local collections will attest.

As we try to imagine what life was like for ancient man back then, we reflect on the needs for our own survival. Water was an even more precious commodity then that it is now and it was not nearly so easily accessible. As huge herds of these wild animals roamed the plains seeking food and water, giant ‘wallows’ developed in the naturally low, dry areas across the plains. Later rains filled these depressions “seasonal ponds” or playas and provided at least a temporary water supply—wet when it rains, and dry when it doesn’t. Example: Garcia Lake in nearby southwestern Deaf Smith County. Imagine the cacophony of sound made by thousands of thundering hoofs beating down upon the native prairie grassland. Ancient man hunted them using spears and clever ambush as well as stampeding the animals over cliffs.

But grass and animals abounded especially before too many hunters arrived. Tribes of Indians followed ancient man. The Apaches came first around 1640 and later were pushed out by the Kiowa and the Comanche in 1700. Indians often camped on the northeastern edges of any playa lakes they could find to catch the water-cooled breezes. Many times this is where the arrow points are found because it is where they camped and worked. The Comanche, however, were the ‘lords of the plains’ because of their use of a ‘gift’ from the Spanish, the caballo or horse. They became much more mobile and deadly hunters on horseback. This ‘sea of grass’ was home to these peoples. Flint from the nearby Alibates quarry area is said to be of the finest varieties found anywhere; flint which provided tools and weapons also necessary for survival on the plains. As man and beast co-inhabited the region, the bison provided not only food, but also clothing and shelter as the skills of the Indian peoples grew.

Just as the ancient peoples made the most of the abundance of natural resources of the land, modern man has adapted the rich, fertile land for our use today. After the desperately difficult lessons learned from the Dust Bowl, our farmers and ranchers produce more now than ever before and are very conscious of conservation methods. Parmer County certainly helps ‘feed the world’ with our crops, cattle and dairy production and we will contribute to the production of ethanol in America. But even as our capable stewards of the land labor, water grows increasingly scarce in our region. In the future man will face another adaptation someday perhaps as life changing and far-reaching as those who have gone before.