Chapter 1. A Tradition in the Making

One of many ancient shamans who exist in Rattlesnake Canyon. The rock art tells the story of his journey to and from the spiritual realm.

Canon 5D, 50mm, 1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 100

There is a swath of land in southwest Texas that opens up to the Rio Grande River named Rattlesnake Canyon. The canyon is a steep depression in the unforgiving desert country near Langtry, a sparsely populated ghost town that is known for the infamous Judge Roy Bean, a saloon owner turned justice of the peace, who referred to himself as “the Law West of the Pecos.” The land surrounding Rattlesnake Canyon is hard and ragged, with dog cacti, thorny mesquite trees, and ocotillo, yucca, and daggerlike lechuguilla—the only things holding the soil together. The weather is hot, dry, and often windy. As for water, there’s the river, but not much else.