17 WINTER TEXAN TIMES www.wintertexantimes.com NOVEMBER 16, 2022 Lic# TACLB00114391E 10 Year Parts and Labor Warranty Mobile Home Installations 2022 Winter Promotion A/C Replacement 2 Ton - $3,500 3 Ton - $3,800 4 Ton - $4,500 5 Ton - $4,700 Free Installation Rio Grande Valley 830-399-0177 956-230-2817 Supply &Hardware Mobile Home Special Orders Available Ask about our daily Manager Specials! PETECO, INC. 2911 N. Cesar Chavez Rd. San Juan, TX 78589 956-787-2847 petecotransport@gmail.com We Do Tie-Down Certification SAVE 10% OFF Your Entire Purchase When You Bring In This Ad *Conditions apply, see store for details. Offer expires March 31, 2023. Ancient landscapes in the Rio Grande Valley By Herb Moering Winter Texans like to explore when in the “Valley” and one aspect they might not have considered is the landscape. In fact, some ancient landscapes still exist in South Texas according to University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley geology Professor Juan Gonzalez. He pointed out several unique features of the RGV lands during the recent South Texas Historical Association (STHA) symposium hosted by the City of Alamo Museum. One of those ancient landscapes, which are often invisible to most, is the Roma sandstone, which Gonzalez said was deposited 43 million years ago, when the Gulf shoreline was near Roma, Texas. The book Ancient Landscapes of South Texas Hiding in Plain Sight* says the exposed sandstone can be seen in the cliffs below Water Street in Roma and isolated outcrops elsewhere in the region. The Roma bluffs, a World Birding Center site, also provides a view of part of the Mexican border town of Ciudad Miguel Aleman and the international bridge. Not too far away from Roma in Starr and Zapata counties are ancient beaches of fossilized oyster beds, related Gonzalez, who is one of authors of the book that was created as part of the Community Historical Archeology Project with Schools (CHAPS). The oysters were in an ancient intertidal lagoon. The fossil giant oyster shells provided the raw material for the manufacture of lime 100 years ago to make mortar and plaster for houses constructed with Roma sandstone blocks. Beds of broken shells are exposed on the shores of Falcon Lake State Park when the lake level is low. It is believed, and evidence supports, a petrified forest existed near the town of Escobares, where in the early 1900s many fossilized tree trunks were taken by private collectors for landscaping purposes. Long before that, Native Americans used the petrified wood for projectile points and other tools. The best example can be found in Roma at the intersection of Zaragoza Avenue and Grant Street on the eastbound lane of US Highway 83. The house fence has standing trees of up to 10 feet. The exterior wall of Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church in Roma used petrified wood for construction. In Rio Grande City the Lady of Lourdes Grotto was built with petrified wood. Gonzalez also mentioned the South Texas Sand Sheet located halfway between the Nueces and Rio Grande Rivers from the inland shore of Laguna Madre to 62 miles inland covering portions of five counties including Hidalgo, Willacy, Brooks, Kenedy and Jim Hogg. It was once Lipan Apache powwow dances concluded the symposium, with Dr. Robert Soto drumming and narrating the spectacle. Alamo resident Nora Marston, who has both Pawnee and Arikara heritage, shows some of her tribal drawings she began creating in the late 1970s. See LANDSCAPES pg. 19
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