With Wanda as my guide, I was able to see graffiti etched into stone in June of 1858. Several men carved their names and dates into the rock, and a few used a mixture of ash and axle grease to write their names. The number of men and the date suggest these could have been surveyors of the Butterfield route . I'm very excited by this prospect and Connie (as you may remember, my partner, photographer, videographer and keep-me-organizer for this leg of the journey) has promised to look into some of the names we found to see if indeed these were the men who were surveying for the Overland Mail Company. I'll keep you posted.

Next, Wanda took me on a small hike up some very slippery rocks to view some of the older pictographs. One is a drawing of a man engaged in a battle, with arrows whipping past him. One arrow appears to have hit him in the groin area. The picture is so simple and yet remarkable for the story — it forever freezes in time one moment in one man's life. His name may have been forgotten, but his story will be told for eternity.

Another pictograph required I lie on my back to view it. According to Wanda, this is an abstract painting in a style sometimes referred to as a "Mexican _blanket design." She explained that this one was probably much older than the battle scene, and the design is usually associated with water.

Finally, we reached the huecos.  Wanda took me to a spot that had several tanks, including a sort of overflow basin for times of heavy rain. Lucky for me the basins had water. When Ormsby came through here 150 years ago today, the tanks were dry. A drought had recently gripped the area, and all the station keeper could provide were two eight gallon tanks for "a dozen heads of cattle and as many men."

I can't thank Wanda enough for sharing this special place with me. This is one of those memories of the trip that I will always treasure, like my visit with the Richards' and "Big Daddy" at Ft. Chadbourne.

With my visit to Hueco Tanks completed, it was getting a little late, so I headed off to do some personal shopping. Connie and I decided we were going to get cowboy boots before we left Texas so we hit the El Rey Outlet. I haven't worn a pair of cowboy boots since I used to borrow a pair from my dad when I was a teenager. (And by "borrow" I mean take while he was working!) The El Rey Outlet has hundreds of Justin  and Tony Lama  brand boots in every size imaginable. It took me a while but I finally found the perfect pair along with a belt to match. From now on I'll be road trippin' Texas style!  Yee Haw!

With new boots on my feet, I headed to Las Cruces, New Mexico. So long, Texas! I'll sure miss all the great folks I've met here. My special thanks to Jill Campbell and Paula Walker of the Texas Heritage Trail Commission; Cliff Tienert, Trent McKnight, Garland and Lana Richards of Ft. Chadbourne; Katrina Dorris of Wells Fargo, San Angelo; Bob Bluthardt of Ft. Concho; and especially Margaret Hoogstra of the Texas Heritage Trails Commission, Ft. Trails Region for making most of what we were able to see and do in Texas possible.

The mail is safe and sound and riding high in the saddle, students!