Every so often we see tour buses traveling around Big Bend. Where are they going, where are they from? What’s it like to accompany one?

First, for accuracy, they should be called “coaches.” Buses are used on scheduled services, for example by All-American Travels which operates a twice daily schedule between Presidio and Midland, via Marfa and Alpine. Coaches are the same type of vehicle, but more comfortable, and are used for charter by groups or are owned by tour operators. They typically hold 47-50 passengers.

Recently, I got a call from a tour operator called Patti asking if I would be a step-on guide for two days around the Big Bend. I write the only general guidebook to the Big Bend region, Adventures in the Big Bend, and, as such, get invited to be a guide for coach tours from time to time. In this case, the Fort Davis Chamber of Commerce recommended me to Patti when she enquired. Patti Tours, from Pleasant Mound in the Ft. Worth area, has been running tours for 15 years. These range from local, one-day excursions by coach, to multi-day coach trips (like the 6 day trip to Big Bend for $925 per person) to European cruises and tours to China. Most people who take coach tours are seniors. This was the case here. Many were widows and had traveled with Patti before; they had also traveled extensively abroad.

I meet the group outside the courthouse in Marfa. Almost on the dot of 9:45 a.m., a coach turns into the square and, noticing me on the sidewalk, stops. A large cheerful woman descends, introduces herself as Twila, the tour leader. Bill, the elderly driver, retired military, shakes my hand. I ask him to drive us once around the courthouse, while I give the background.

Built in 1886, for $65,000, and magnificently restored in 2001 for $2.6 million. The point I make to the group is about the confidence and foresight of Marfa’s founding fathers to have built such an impressive public building. Marfa was the county seat, and the courthouse was proof. As we continued along Highland Avenue, I segue into the arrival of the railroad and the origins of Marfa.

Heading south on Hwy 67, I ask the driver to pull over to the side of the road for five minutes, near the concrete structures. This gives me adequate time to provide some background on Donald Judd, his arrival in Marfa in the 1970’s, and the resulting transformation of the town from a sleepy backwater to a vibrant art community.

We then continue to our next stop, Fort Leaton in Presidio. I carefully tell the group how long the ride will be, adding that there will be rest rooms at Fort Leaton. I talk about Big Bend’s desert and mountain landscape, summarize the geology of the region, and list some of the desert plants, mentioning that we will be learning more on this subject after lunch….

We drive straight through Presidio, and I mention the history of cultivation along the Rio Grande, dating to 1,500 BC. I also mention the military activity along the border during the Mexican Revolution, specifically the effect on the town, in 1914, when the federal troops and their retainers retreated from Pancho Villa by crossing into Presidio. They were escorted by U.S. Army troops to Marfa, then put on a train to El Paso, from where most were repatriated to Mexico. There is a section of Presidio called Puerto Rico, named after the rich Mexicans who settled briefly there after escaping from Villa’s troops.

At Fort Leaton, we get an excellent talk by Interpreter David Lewis, who gives the background to Ben Leaton’s violent life. Leaton was a successful trader, also an Indian scalp hunter for the Mexican government. Sometimes he failed to distinguish between Indian and Mexican scalps. He built the fort which local residents who abhor his memory prefer to call by its Spanish name “El Fortín.” and tells some ghost stories about the fort. We visit the small museum, touch the 30”-thick adobe walls, and inspect the huge Chihuahua Trail wagon behind the fort. The visit lasts maybe 40 minutes, but it is sufficient to get a taste of the fort’s history.

Besides, we now have the River Road to drive, and a 12:30 pm lunch at Lajitas Resort. Along the River Road, I let the scenery speak for itself, mentioning only some data about the revived Big Bend Ranch State Park, the tragic shooting death in Redford in 1997 of local teenager Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., and the floods of September 2008. It is 46 miles from Fort Leaton to Lajitas but we can’t do much more than 35 mph. Keeping to a schedule is important on this type of tour. Fortunately, this is Twila’s responsibility and, in a fussy way, she’s good at it.

My job is entertainer and informant.  I try to convey something of the spirit of the border lands, without overloading guests with facts. I use anecdote, personal reminiscence and contemporary references to tell of the area’s violent history, distinctive geology and varied natural habitat – particularly its colorful residents, including contemporary ones I have interviewed. The landscape speaks for itself, it just needs explaining. I try to keep the tone of my narrative light, and am always looking at audience response. Drooping eyelids means I’m boring them. For me the challenge is to impart as much fact as I can, but also remembering to sit down and shut up from time to time. These folks are elderly and have a limit to what they can absorb.

The staff at the Candelilla Restaurant are ready for us. We get a set meal which is principally a large burger, adequate and speedy.

I find out that though many in the group are well traveled, none has been here before, and they are all considerably impressed by what they have seen so far. The landscape speaks for itself, and I hear gasps sometimes when the coach turns a corner and we see a new vista. When it comes to picking a topic, it has to be relevant to what is in front of the bus. Within the few minutes drive from Lajitas to the Warnock Center, I have to decide whether to describe Steve Smith’s disastrous attempt to turn Lajitas into The Ultimate Hideout or to tell of the time I flew down to Lajitas from Alpine with pilot George Merriman, walked to the river, took the rowboat and bought him a Mexican breakfast.   

At the Warnock Center, we get another good talk from Texas Parks & Wildlife interpreter Dave Long whose knowledge and infectious enthusiasm keeps most of the group following him around the garden behind the center, despite the heat. He explains the principal desert plants and their uses. He points out which plants (like catclaw) to keep clear of to avoid injury, which ones can be harvested, cooked and eaten (like sotol) and which ones (such as creosote) have medicinal uses. He keeps it quick and short, which is wise.

When we are back aboard the coach, I have time to point out the contrasts of our tour: state park, river road with Mexico a stone’s throw away, then a multi-million dollar resort, next a ghost town. And then, the jewel in the crown: the Chisos Mountains in the National Park.

En route to Terlingua, we pass the site of the chili cook-off, Ken Barnes’ fossil museum, and, at the top of the hill, we catch our first glimpse of the Chisos. The Terlingua Ghost Town is an easy visit. The Trading Post has loads of merchandise at all prices. Some residents drinking beer on the porch provide local color and answer questions. The group peers down a mineshaft and peeks into the Starlight Theater, where we will eat the next day. I point to the Chisos and tell them that we will be in the middle of those mountains in an hour.

We head into the park, paying $200 entrance fee for the coach. Dinner at Chisos Mountains Lodge is early, but that allows time for a stroll around the Window View Trail, and the chance for me to tell about the establishment of the park, its unique characteristics, and a recent encounter I had with black bears near the South Rim. (Late last summer, just as it was getting dark, within 20 minutes’ walk to the Rim, I came across two bear cubs scampering up and down a tree at the side of the trail while momma bear looked on. She saw me and moved away unhurriedly with the cubs.)

Some in the group have seen the Great Pyramids of Egypt and walked on China’s Great Wall, but all marvel at the beauty of the mountains and ask about the basin’s formation and how the Window happened.

The next day is spent in the national park, heading first along Maxwell Scenic Drive and down to Santa Elena Canyon before the heat builds up. Fortunately, the weather is cool for late May.

About half the group is able to cross muddy Terlingua Creek and climb the steps to the mouth of the canyon. The rest remain below on the riverbank, watching the green-brown water of the Rio Grande speed past. Thanks to recent water release on the Conchos, there is a good high water level.

Some of the women hiking into the canyon are a bit tested by the climb, but they retain their high spirits and call themselves “The Pioneers.” We return to Castolon and eat a picnic lunch under the shade awnings outside the store.

We backtrack towards Panther Junction, and then continue to Boquillas Canyon. The towering limestone cliffs of Sierra del Carmen on the Mexican side prompt me to reminisce about the old days when boat crossings were permitted to the villages on the Mexican side and onward travel, by jeep, into the Mexican sierra was possible.

At the mouth of the canyon, one third of the group still has the energy and curiosity to climb the steps towards the canyon mouth. From the top, we see a Mexican man sitting under a tree on the opposite side of the Rio Grande, while two horses graze nearby. Is he guarding them? He’s not a trinket salesmen, and seems uninterested in us. The glimpse of the lone Mexican adds a note of mystery in the dramatic setting.

We return to Panther Junction, browse the books and souvenirs in the visitor center, and then continue to the Starlight Theater. This is a good setting to say goodbye. I tell everyone to come back. Twila says she’s happy. The group looks happy and applauds me.

My Big Bend preference is to be on foot, out of sight of any man-made edifice and as far as possible from anyone else; most of the elderly folk on these coach tours are never going to do this, but I can explain why it appeals to me. I can also show them that there are plenty of equivalent rewards just by the roadside, if we know where to look. The challenge for me is to pack in as much information as I can without losing the group’s attention, giving them the maximum background history, geological detail and, contemporary anecdote as they can absorb.  

While this type of visit is of necessity short and programmed, it has nevertheless enabled some seniors from Fort Worth to catch a glimpse of something wonderful in a Texas they never knew existed.