Canyons of the Texas High Plains

No one captures Texas like Wyman Meinzer, whether his subject is its skies, weather, wildlife, rivers, or what lies below the skyline of his native West Texas. Here, in this gem of a portfolio, are fifty vistas of those geological wonders that have fascinated artists, writers, and musicians from around the world for centuries and continue to hold spellbound a half million visitors annually. Through Meinzer's eye the reader beholds the change of seasons beneath the Palisaded Plains skyline in Palo Duro, Tule, Caprock, and Cita Canyons. Framing Meinzer's work in elegant historic context, preeminent Panhandle historian Frederick W. Rathjen gives us a rare appreciation of the topographic majesty of the Permian Red Beds that 230 to 280 million years ago lay below a shallow sea and through subsequent millennia and riverine deposit, erosion, and redeposit would gain "variegated walls and formations of gray, yellow, maroon, lavender, and orange shown most conspicuously in the lovely Spanish Skirts." Only from high above can one grasp the totality of topographic relationships in the canyon lands and appreciate the massive complexes extending eastward from the escarpment of the Llano Estacado. Even a person of only slight imagination must be overwhelmed with this mighty work of nature, and must stretch both emotion and intellect to take in its magnitude. For more photo studies by Wyman Meinzer, see Coyote, The Roadrunner, and Playas: Jewels of the Plains