How an Ancient Indigenous Mural in West Texas Became an Archaeological Battleground

The first obstacle to deciphering the White Shaman mural is reaching it. The journey to the rock panel upon which ancient peoples painted some of Texas’s most astonishing art starts with an off-road drive that winds through a dusty patch of Chihuahuan Desert scrubland along the U.S.-Mexico border. Rocky gullies and dense outcroppings of cacti extend to the horizon. About ten miles west of Comstock—the closest strip of civilization, population a few hundred—visitors must proceed on foot. They must bring enough water and willpower to endure an hour of hiking, particularly if they are touring the site on the fringes of a Texas summer. After a twenty-story descent into a canyon, sightseers ascend an escarpment to a bowl-shaped shelter tucked into the cliffs overlooking the Pecos River. Here,