Sul Ross State University - Brand Yearbook (Alpine, TX)

Page 26 text:

The Grand Canyon of Santa Helena Santa Helena, Cutting the sky, Torn by the river, Lashed by ihe wind, Sculptured and painted By God, With lvis tools Of wuter and wind. 11E Grand Canyon ol Santa Helena lias a rugged JL beauty, although in miniature; it may well be compared to that of the Grand Canyon of the Yellow¬ stone. The same effect oi sheer, ragged chasm is achieved against the sky; the same ruggedness is here, with shadowed lights and sunlit colorings that are exquisite in their mingled tones. Here the turbulent Rio Grande, at some long past time, has cut its way from the Mexican side, through the rocky range, to flow peacefully down the yellow sands of the Texas shore. Huge rocks have fallen within the canyon, to dam the waters, to form dripping cascades, purling whirl-pools, and rippling falls. Cool and shadowy caves have been made by tilted and piled rocks, where beavers and wild fowl sport and play. High above, where the walls touch the sky, eagles swoop and call. A short way from the canyon opening, on the Texas side, is the hut of Santa Helena, the one-time home of bandits and cattle rustlers. And here, in one remembered battle, fifteen men bit the dust of death. But the calm and ancient canyon takes no heed of men and their paltry affairs of life and death; its face remains unruffled, and its rugged outlines un¬ changed, to all but the smoothly flowing waters that have moulded and formed its contours in ages past.

Page 28 text:

Lajitas J IT AS, or the place of little rocks, is builded upon the banks of the Rio Grande. Direct¬ ly across the swiftly flowing stream is a tiny M exican village, also named Lajitas. A ferry boat plies between the sister villages. At this place thousands of cattle have passed out of Mexico, or into Mexico from the United States, during periods of drought or revolution. At the time of Villa’s revolutionary activities, bandits raided the lonely little place again and again. Then, because of its very isolation, it became an important trading place for Villa and his troops. The rebel commander retained possession until he surrendered. Here cattle and horses were brought to be sold, the money for all transactions being counted out upon a blanket spread be¬ tween the buyer and the seller. Now that the mutter of rebellion is again heard in the republic to the south, perhaps sleepy, in¬ dolent Lajitas will again awaken to the tread of Caballeros and to the clink of money tossed into the blanket. But today the tiny adobe store is visited only by freighters, who drive long strings of lazy mules across the sandy trail from Alpine to Lajitas, and the little village sleeps in the warm desert sun. Page 22