The Red Buffalo, Big Bend National Park, Texas.

The Red Buffalo, Big Bend National Park, Texas

For quite a long time, I had heard rumors of a pictograph in Big Bend called the Red Buffalo.  I had not been able to find detailed information as to its location, either from other rock art aficionados, the internet, or from park personnel.  When I enrolled at Texas State University to study Archaeology, I began volunteering at the Center For Archaeological Studies (CAS), a Curation/CRM facility located on campus.  As a student volunteer, I had access to the sizable library of gray literature located at CAS.  One afternoon, I focused on the Red Buffalo, and was able to find a mention of it in an old Big Bend Survey.  While the material I found did not give a specific location, it did mention that it was in the area of a named spring.  In January of 2015, I spent a week in Big Bend hiking and exploring.  On January 6, 2015 I set out early in the morning to try to locate the elusive pictograph.  It took me the better part of a day, and my GPS said I walked over 11 miles, but I finally found it.  Once I located the general area of the named spring, I explored the area, concentrating on landscapes that I  thought would be conducive to rock art.  Unfortunately, the first two areas I explored (one to the north, and one to the east) contained no rock art that I could find.  The last wash I explored is where I located the Red Buffalo.  As you can see from the gallery below, it is an isolate, is quite small, and is located on a rock structure in the center of the wash.  I was proud of myself that day, for not giving up, and for finally finding the object of my search.  I hope you enjoy my photos.