The Natural History of the Trans-Pecos: Desert Legends, Rugged Grandeur, and the Big Bend

The last frontier in Texas, the Trans-Pecos region is an immense and remote series of desert basins in the western-most part of the state. Columns of rock and stony debris dot the landscape, with various peaks, such as the notable El Capitan, rising from a long-forgotten sea floor. While the acidic and shallow desert soil only allows for scrubby vegetation in many places, what survives is rugged, colorful, and adaptable. Far from just an arid region, however, the Trans-Pecos is also home to...