“The first impression of the country — one that
does not wear off — is that of magnificent confusion,” writes
Walter Webb of the southwestern corner of Texas, also known as Big
Bend country. Some visitors feel as though they’ve discovered
hell on earth. Other people find that this region of vast open
spaces, colorful mountains, dry drainages, thorny vegetation and
hidden canyons grabs the mind and never lets go.
In
God’s Country or Devil’s Playground,
both viewpoints are explored. Editor Barney Nelson pulls together
an eclectic crew of writers, ranging from early Spanish
missionaries to today’s river rats, who spend their days
rafting the Rio Grande and nights drinking toasts to it. There are
professors, ranchers, cavers, Mexicans and all the folks in
between. Even Edward Abbey gets in on the action: In “Discovery and
Early Sorrows,” Abbey wrecks a brand-new Ford convertible —
and a relationship — on a closed Park Service road.
Little has changed in Big Bend country, according to these essays:
In a narrative that rivals John Wesley Powell’s account of
the exploration of the Colorado River, Robert Hill describes the
first scientific exploration of the lower Rio Grande canyons in
1901. I ran the same canyons myself, nearly 100 years later; the
most notable difference is the absence today of the feared bandito
Alvarado, and of the 2,000 miners who once resided in a remote
border town.
God’s Country is
advertised as nature writing, but the categories of writing blur
into each other like the borders of this land. Some pieces describe
plants and animals in detail, some are tall tales, and still others
are simply unexpected adventures in a landscape that is not safe to
love. Writes Kenneth Ragsdale, “The big bend allows no winners;
there are only survivors.” This is the story of the survivors.
God’s Country or Devil’s Playground:
The Best Nature Writing from the Big Bend of Texas.
Edited by Barney Nelson
321 pages, softcover $22.95.
University of Texas Press, Austin, 2002.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A thin, dry border between heaven and hell.
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