This paper is an attempt to organize and categorize the construction styles of houses in the lower Big Bend area. After 1880, the end of native American hostilities in the Big Bend and the coming of the railroad allowed the settlement along the Rio Grande in Texas to began. In addition to the Anglo settlers and ranchers, a large number of Mexicans from the northern states of Chihuahua and Coahuila migrated across the border into the Big Bend. These settlers were attracted to the area by the development of ranching, mining, farming and, eventually, candelilla wax production.

We have surveyed thirty-three (33) settlements and communities along the Rio Grande from Colorado Canyon on the west to Boquillas Canyon on the east. There are concentrations of settlements around Terlingua Creek to Castolon on the west side of the Big Bend National Park and on the east side of the Park between Mariscal Mountain and the Sierra del Carmen. The houses built by the residents can be organized according to the construction styles and the building techniques used.

The focus of this study is on Rio Grande villages from the period of 1880 to 1940, ending when the national park was established. Our basic guide to the classification of construction styles has been derived from a chapter in Backcountry Mexico, a book by Bob Burleson and David H. Riskind which was published in 1986.

For the most part, the houses were built of locally available materials and, as might be expected, the houses were best suited for the hot to moderate temperatures of the Big Bend area. The general styles include 1) the desert adobe house, 2) the house of polished, flood-worn boulders, and 3) the house of ledgestones, often laid with mud for mortar.


The Adobe House is made of bricks made from ingredients found locally. Adobe is a mixture of clay (barro), straw (paja), and ashes (ceniza). The bricks are molded and cured, and as a result the adobe appears more like a manufactured construction material than any of the other building styles. The photo of the Sublett House [photo-Dorgan-Sublett 0277] shows the basic adobe design.



Similarly, the adobe house at El Ojito (presumably that of the village jefe or chief) is a multi-room structure made of adobe bricks [photo El Ojito 0194].



In each case, the adobe shows the deterioration of the exposed bricks. Without conservation and preservation, the adobe melts away due to the effects of wind and rain. The adobe bricks of the main house at the Valenzuela Ranch on Terlingua Creek seem to be made in a way that is more resistant to the weather, almost like manufactured bricks [photo-Valenzuela 3262].





Houses made of polished, flood-worn boulders [photo-Colorado Canyon 1268] are found in the vicinity of the river and creek drainages. This photo is of a well-preserved river cobble house located in Colorado Canyon on the Mexican side of the river. Although slightly out of the target area for this paper, it is shown here as an intact model, one of the few in the area. The rounded river cobbles are plentiful in the drainages in and around the river floodplain, and the stones can be stacked to form the walls of the houses.

Most, if not all, of the boulder houses in the Big Bend are in a serious state of ruin, as seen by the boulder house at the De la O Ranch [photo-De la O 07_19], where the walls have collapsed and only the outline of the rooms are visible.


Similarly, the single room boulder house in Terlingua Abajo shows the effects of deterioration [photo-Terlingua-Abajo 0264].





The house in the village area [photo-Green Wax 0024] around the Green Wax Factory along Middle Tornillo Creek also shows the boulders in disarray.




Ledgestone houses are more common where there are outcrops of flagstone as seen in the photos of houses in the La Coyota community [photo-La Coyota 0416].




The flat stones appear to be a better construction material than boulders, [photo-La Coyota 0419] and seem to maintain their form for a longer time.


This historic photo from the village of San Vicente [photo-San Vicente 0202] shows what a ledgestone house looked like during the 1920's or 1930's. The low stacked walls are topped with a roof made from tree limbs and river cane.

A current photo [photo-San Vicente 3507] of the house at San Vicente shows the durability of the stacked ledgerocks.




Houses were also constructed of less enduring materials such as tree limbs, sticks and river cane. These structures were sufficient to provide shelter, but the structures do not survive for very long. Examples, though, can be found in historic photos [photo-Castolon-0470], such as this house reportedly in the Castolon area, and in ad hoc shelters such as this one [photo-Boquillas 1665] found recently along the river near Boquillas, Mexico.


Variations on the basic styles were introduced in order to improve the efficiency of the shelter or the ease of construction. For example, a soft cut bank or hill may be dug out to form a rear wall around which the remaining walls are set. The house at El Ojito shows how this was done [photo-El Ojito 0190]. The soft volcanic tuff was carved out for the back wall and rocks were stacked for the remaining walls of the structure.

Frequently, this rear wall, inset in the hill, is the west wall which would help to keep the house cool in the hot months of the year. The homes of the workers at the Sublett Farm were built into the east face of a small hill [photo-Sublett 3307].

The "dugout" feature is seen in both the polished boulder style and the ledgerock style.


Dugout homes are found at Terlingua Abajo,




Ledgestones are used in dugout homes at the Clemente Mena homesite
on Tornillo Creek [photo-Mena 0518],




In a few instances, large boulders were used as the back wall of the house. This can be seen in the photo of Luna's Jacal, located along Maverick Road in Big Bend National Park [photo-Lunas 3298].




In many of the communities which we surveyed, there are houses with more elaborate construction styles and/or materials. These more sophisticated structures may be the homes of the village leaders or the ranch owner [photo-Terl Abajo 0206]. The houses are larger than the more common one room structures, and the workmanship is of a higher quality.


The "main " house at Terlingua Abajo [photo-Terl Abajo 0207] exemplifies the features of fine rock workmanship, multiple rooms and the use of manufactured bricks.





The main house at Molinar shows a combination of adobe brick walls, stacked boulders and manufactured bricks [photo-Molinar 0437] augmented with large vegas of cottonwood limbs for the roof beams and for veranda support posts [photo-Molinar 0057].





The main building in the village at the Green Wax Factory [photo-Green 0037], which may have been the factory owner's store, shows the fine craftsmanship of stacked rock for a multi-room structure.



The houses of the villages display a consistent set of construction styles across the region of the Big Bend. Most of the inhabitants of these villages were Mexican immigrants or Texans of Mexican heritage. They brought with them the skills of house construction that they learned in northern Mexico. Nails, bolts, metal hinges and metal fasteners were rarely available. These builders were ingenious in their use of native materials. They found local materials and used what was available to create functional and comfortable homes in a difficult environment. The interior of a typical Mexican home is neat, tidy and well-organized. It is well suited to meet the needs of the inhabitants with the utensils and implements of the household.

In summary, houses were constructed of locally available materials: adobe, polished, flood-worn boulders, ledgestones, sticks and river cane. The structures were free standing, buttressed against boulders or partial dugouts. The more sophisticated styles incorporated a combination of materials and styles, including the use of manufactured bricks.