DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, out here in Coke County, the land itself has been keepin' secrets for centuries. Not buried deep, mind you — just tucked up under the rock ledges, right there in plain sight if you know how to look.
These shelters, scattered throughout this area, gave protection to Lipan, Kickapoo, Comanche, and Kiowa Indians across the last several centuries. Not one people, not one moment — but generation after generation, different nations finding the same quiet refuge under the same limestone overhangs. The land remembered all of them.
Archeologists came along and started listening to what the land had to say. In one typical shelter, they found evidence of not one, not two, but three separate periods of occupation. Three distinct chapters, layered right on top of each other.
And alongside those layers, covering the rock walls, were petroglyphs — intricate carvings cut into the stone itself. Someone, at some point, felt strongly enough about this place to leave a permanent mark on it. And then there was everything else just laying about: river shells, turkey and deer bones, flint knives, scrapers, and points.
The full record of daily life, right there on the ground. One of several hearths — just two feet by three feet — was nothing more than small pieces of sandstone lining a natural rock trough. Simple, practical, and somehow still speaking across the centuries.
But here's where the story takes a turn. On the highest level of that shelter, archeologists found something that didn't belong to the ancient record — green bottle glass. And that glass traces right back to Fort Chadbourne, which stood not far from here from 1852 to 1867.
A fragment of a different world, sitting right on top of all those older ones. Three periods of occupation. Petroglyphs carved in stone.
A fort's worth of history in a shard of green glass. These shelters didn't just protect the people who used them — they kept the whole story safe, just waiting for someone to come along and read it.
What the marker says
Throughout this area during the last several centuries, rock ledges gave protection to Lipan, Kickapoo, Comanche, and Kiowa Indians. In one typical shelter archeologists found evidence of 3 periods of occupation, plus numerous intricate petroglyphs (rock carvings). River shells, turkey and deer bones, flint knives, scrapers, and points lay about the area. One of several hearths (2' x 3' in size) consisted of small pieces of sandstone lining a natural rock trough. On the highest level was found green bottle glass from nearby Fort Chadbourne (1852-1867). (1970)