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How did playas form? How did a wetland become known as a playa? Did prehistoric people use playas? Did Native Americans use playas? |
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How did playas form? How did a wetland become known as a playa? Did prehistoric people use playas? Did Native Americans use playas? |
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Scientists are not really sure how playas formed. Early researchers believed the formation of playas was related to glacial fluctuation. Settlers thought playas were buffalo wallows or wind-blown formations. A third theory is that playas are formed when water collects in a natural depression. Over time, a chemical reaction dissolves the underlying caliche layer, the land surface subsides (sinks), and a playa is created. |
How did a wetland become known as a playa?
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The word playa means
"beach" in Spanish. Historical documents show that Spanish
explorers that traveled through the Southern High Plains documented the
existence of Playas in their journals. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado who
was traveling across the plains in 1541, noted, occasionally there were found some ponds, round like plates, a stone's
throw wider or larger. Some contained fresh water, others salt.
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| It is interesting to
note that Dendrochronology data shows that at
the time of Coronado's travels, a severe drought was taking place in the
Plains that lasted from 1539-1564. It is amazing that the playas that
Coronado described, had water in them during a severe drought. Many other
travelers, wrote about the playas in their journals and all of them
depended on the water in the playas and planned their travel routes
according to these water sources.
The region that is known as the Texas Southern High Plains is also known as the Llano Estacado which is Spanish phrase that is commonly translated as the "Staked Plains." Theories suggest that early Spaniards used yucca plants as stakes, due to the lack of trees, to keep the horses from wandering on the open plains. At some point in time the ponds that Coronado noted and that were used throughout time by native people, became known as playas, or playa lakes. It is not clear why these wetlands became known as a "beach" but it may be a reference to the sandy shorelines associated with playas. |
Did prehistoric people use playas?
| Humans need food and water to survive. Throughout all of human history, people have made decisions about the places where they would settle according to the abundance of food and water. Since there is not a major river on the Llano Estacado, prehistoric people used playas as sources of water for game. Spear points found with mammoth bones in shallow lake deposits near Miami, Texas may indicate playas were used for trapping and attracting large animals. |
Possible Pastore archeological site. |
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Traces of pole-frame houses and pottery shards were found on a knoll west of a playa lake at the Laguna Plata site in New Mexico. The pottery was a type Pueblo natives used between 1250 and 1350 A.D. Playas attracted buffalo herds and hunting parties from New Mexico and nomadic hunting tribes of the High Plains. Playas and canyons also protected the Comanches as they fought the advancing Texas settlers and ranchers between 1836 and 1879. |
