Chapter I: Front Matter

BUREAU OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
The University of Texas at Austin
Peter T. Flawn, Director

Guidebook 8

The Geologic Story of Palo Duro Canyon

By
William H. Matthews III

August 1969
Second Printing
August 1983

Contents

Introduction 1
Acknowledgments 2
Park history 3
Ancient man in Palo Duro Canyon 3
Indians of the Plains 3
Advent of the White Man 3
Regional setting 8
The geologic story 10
The canyon’s rocks and minerals 10
Unraveling earth history 10
The geologic column and geologic time scale 12
Geologic formations exposed in Palo Duro Canyon 16
Quartermaster Formation 17
Tecovas Formation 19
Trujillo Formation 22
Ogallala Formation 23
Rocks of the Pleistocene 28
How the canyon was carved 29
The geologic work of running water 29
Weathering and gravity add the final touch 30
Weathering 30
Mass-wasting 31
Differential erosion 31
What to do and see at Palo Duro Canyon State Park 33
Park Entrance 33
Coronado Lodge and Observation Point 33
The Scenic Drive 33
Pioneer Amphitheatre 33
Sad Monkey Train Ride 35
Triassic Peak 35
Spanish Skirts 37
Catarina Cave 37
Santana’s Face 37
The Sky Ride 37
The First Water Crossing 39
Colonel Charles Goodnight’s Dugout 39
The Lighthouse 39
Capitol Peak 40
Fortress Cliff 40
The Rock Garden 40
The Devil’s Slide 40
The Turnaround 41
Hiking 43
Horseback riding 43
Camping and picnicking 43
Photography 43
Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum 45
Selected references 47
Glossary 48
Index 50

Illustrations

Figures— Page
1. Aerial View of Palo Duro Canyon Frontispiece
2. Place map of Palo Duro Canyon 4-5
3. Indian carving on sandstone boulder 6
4. War dress of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker 7
5. Generalized geologic map of the Texas Panhandle 9
6. Geologic time scale 11
7. Generalized geologic map of Palo Duro Canyon State Park 14-15
8. Joints and gypsum veins in Quartermaster Formation 17
9. Syncline in Quartermaster red beds 18
10. Reduction halos in Quartermaster shale 20
11. Cross-bedded boulder of Trujillo sandstone 20
12. Panoramic view of canyon showing major rock units exposed in
canyon 21
13. Phytosaur skull 22
14. Skeleton of _Buettneria_ 24
15. Mortar hole made by Indians 25
16. Rock pedestal near the Lighthouse 25
17. Outcrop of Ogallala caliche 26
18. Life-sized model of shovel-jawed mastodon 27
19. Fossilized carapaces of Pliocene tortoises 27
20. Talus slopes and “hoodoo” on Capitol Peak 31
21. Entrance to Palo Duro Canyon State Park 34
22. Coronado Lodge 34
23. Pioneer Amphitheatre 35
24. Train on Sad Monkey Railroad track 36
25. South face of Triassic Peak 36
26. Spanish Skirts 37
27. Catarina Cave 38
28. Santana’s Face 38
29. Picnic area at first water crossing 39
30. Colonel Charles Goodnight’s Dugout 40
31. The Lighthouse 41
32. Capitol Peak 42
33. Fortress Cliff 42
34. The Rock Garden 43
35. The Devil’s Slide 44
36. Campsite in south end of park 44
37. Entrance to Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum 45

The Geologic Story of Palo Duro Canyon

William H. Mathews III[1]