NPS Photo

In 1957, Wallace Pratt donated 5,632 acres of his beloved McKittrick Canyon to the U.S. Government which formed the core of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

The Canyon of the Past

The People
According to archeological evidence unearthed in and near the canyon, the earliest inhabitants occupied the area over 12,000 years ago. Only stone-chipped tools, bone fragments and bits of charcoal remain to reconstruct the ways of their lives. More recent discoveries, such as mescal pits and pictographs, help weave a more complete story of prehistoric life in the Guadalupes.

Much later in history, around the early 1500s, the Mescalero Apaches inhabited the canyon. The Guadalupes provided ample supplies of game, water, and shelter locations, and remained their unchallenged sanctuary until the arrival of settlers, cattle drovers, and stage lines. As the land was taken from the Indians, conflicts arose. Skirmishes turned to bloody battles. Settlers demanded protection. The Mescalero were forced from the area as cavalry troops penetrated the Guadalupes, raiding and destroying Apache rancherias, rations and supplies. By the late 1800s, nearly all of the surviving Mescalero Apaches in the U.S. were on reservations.

Eventually the rugged land was tamed for ranching and farming. Grazing and hunting activities took their toll as fences went up. Wildlife disappeared - Merriam's elk, desert bighorn sheep, and blacktail prairie dogs were all extirpated from the Guadalupes as a result of extensive hunting and trapping. Though settlement occurred slowly in the Guadalupes, people were here to stay. McKittrick Canyon was named for one of those settlers - Captain Felix McKittrick, a rancher who moved to the mouth of that canyon in 1869.

In 1921, a young geologist named Wallace E. Pratt came to McKittrick Canyon. He was captivated by its beauty and geology and began buying land in the canyon. In 1931-32, he had a cabin built at the confluence of north and south McKittrick. The magnificent structure, built only of stone and wood, was furnished with rough plank reclining chairs, four beds, an assortment of hammocks, and a special table to seat twelve. The cabin served as his part-time home and summer retreat.

In 1957, Wallace Pratt donated 5,632 acres of his beloved property to the U.S. Government for the creation of a national park. His gift along with a 70,000 acre purchase from J.C. Hunter Jr.'s Guadalupe Mountain Ranch ensured that Guadalupe Mountains National Park was authorized by congress in 1966, and officially opened to the public in 1972. Wallace Pratt died on Christmas Day, 1981; he was 96 years old. As per his request, his ashes were spread over the canyon he loved. The Stone Cabin remains as a monument to this pioneer conservationist.

The Rocks
As you hike through the desert plants and into the beautiful trees, grasses, and breathtaking vistas, it is hard to imagine that this is a mere reflection of recent geological time. 250 million years ago, during the Permian Age, a vast inland sea covered the land. Within the waters of this sea a reef formed by calcium carbonate precipitating from the water, the accumulation of skeletal remains, and algae and sponges that settled to the bottom. As the ocean floor sank and the reef grew, a shallow lagoon formed behind the reef. The sediments that settled in the lagoon make up a formation know as the back reef. Sediments that broke off the front and tumbled to the bottom make up the fore reef. The sea eventually dried up; the water became too salty for the survival of the reef-building organisms. Rivers washed sediments over the reef and buried it thousands of feet deep. Geologists surmise that around twelve million years ago an uplift took place. Wind and rain eroded away the sediments leaving the reef exposed and creating the mountain range of the Guadalupes. McKittrick Canyon cuts a significant slash through this range, exposing the backbone of the Capitan Reef - one of the most extensive fossil reef formations known on earth.

NPS Photo - Cookie Ballou

The Texas madrone - a rainforest relict tree - grows to about 30 feet. It has a gnarled trunk with reddish bark that peels with age.

The Diversity

Plants
The mouth of McKittrick Canyon is predominately scrub desert where yuccas like the "Spanish bayonet" (Yucca faxoniana), sotol (Dasylirion leiophyllum), and ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) thrive. To the untrained eye, it seems impossible for anything to grow in such harsh conditions, yet the plants have evolved to meet the challenge.

Several species of prickly pear cacti (Opuntia sp.) live in the canyon as well. Their beautiful yellow-orange blossoms can be observed across the landscape in late spring, and if your timing is right, you may also enjoy the brilliant red-orange blossoms of the claret cup cacti (Echinocereus triglochidiatus). Cacti and other desert succulents avoid drying out by storing water in their succulent tissues. To protect from water evaporation, the stems have a thick waxy coating. Their leaves, reduced to needles, provide protection from predators while reflecting the radiant heat of the sun.

Further along the trail, trees stand as sentinels, silently guarding the canyon. Alligator juniper, velvet ash, ponderosa pine, and big tooth maple shelter agaves under their shady limbs. The most intriguing tree though is the Texas madrone with its smooth red-orange bark and shiny green leaves. In spring, it has urn-shaped, cream-colored flowers that fill the air with a sweet fragrance. In fall its red berries provide food for American Robins and Townsend Solitaires. This tree is a remnant of the past; surviving from a time of more significant rainfall and a less distinct desert climate. In the distance, the gurgling water of the perennial stream is its lifeline.

A profusion of beautiful wildflowers bloom from early spring through late fall in McKittrick Canyon. Many, such as Lion Heart (Physostegia praemorsa), Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and Chapline Columbine (Aquilegia chaplinei) are highly dependent on the intermittent stream and the seeps within the canyon walls. The erratic and unpredictable nature of limited precipitation is not enough to ensure their survival. The presence of these flowers reminds us of the fragility of intertwining ecosystems.

Sometimes we are deceived by the showy colors of a plant. For example, Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sp.) flowers are inconspicuous; it is the bright red bracts beneath each flower that catch the eye. Indian paintbrush is a hemiparasitic and depends on a host plant to supply its water and nutrients.

Among the many common wildflowers in McKittrick Canyon, look for gayfeather (Liatris punctata), plains blackfoot (Melampodium leucanthum), and butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa).

Wildlife
Many animals are hard to view due to their nocturnal nature. These include bobcats, mountain lions, raccoons, ring tail cats, and many species of bats. Look for their signs - scent, nests, tracks, scrape marks, and scat. During the daylight hours other species are out and about; be patient, sit still and listen, and you may have the opportunity to observe mule deer, javelina, wood rats, vireos, towhees, fence lizards and yes, even rattlesnakes - the most frequently seen are black-tailed and rock rattlers. Look closely at a rock or the bark of a tree; many animals take full advantage of the camouflage nature has provided. As you watch dragonflies near the water, you may be surprised to know that some are found only here and nowhere else. Rainbow trout can be observed swimming in the stream. They were introduced into the canyon in the '30s, but have survived as a small population.

Mammal, bird, and reptile checklists are available from the Natural History Association bookstore located at the Headquarters Visitor Center. There are over 50 species of mammals alone, and more than 300 bird species that live in, or migrate through the park. 40 of those have been known to nest in McKittrick Canyon.

If we realize that only decades ago humans were personally responsible for the extinction of the Merriam's elk and the extirpation of desert bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, gray wolves, bison, and blacktail prairie dogs from the Guadalupes, we might be more inclined to carefully notice the animals, birds and insects, and their habitats that still remain today.