Dragons in the Desert
Story and photograph by Charles Angell
T
he Trans-Pecos region of Texas
is known for having a greater
concentration of cave and rock
shelter prehistoric artwork than any-
where else in the world, save for south-
ern France. There is such an abun-
dance of pictographs and petroglyphs
here that the majority of the sites have
never been professionally surveyed or
analyzed, and it would be safe to
assume that in some of the more
remote and inaccessible areas ancient
artwork exists that modern humans
have yet to gaze upon. Many books
have been published recording the var-
ious images and symbols that were
etched on stone by the early peoples of
the southwest deserts, and many differ-
ent interpretations of these glyphs and
graphs have been written. Some of the
symbols are self-explanatory, such as
four-legged
horned
creatures,
humanoids or spear points. Other
symbols can appear to be abstract ran-
dom lines and squiggles. In the case of
petroglyphs, symbols carved or etched
into stone, the dozens of hours and
effort necessary to create some of the
larger drawings would lead one to
believe that there is a definite purpose
or image being created— who would
spend so much time painstakingly cre-
ating a shape that represents nothing
of significance?
One such random squiggle I fre-
quented upon in my hikes always puz-
zled me. It seemed so familiar yet I
couldn't put my finger on it; at over
four feet long it must have taken the
artist 20 or more hours to abrade and
peck into the hard volcanic rock.
The shape had become my Devil's
Tower, intriguing me every time I
passed by, and I found myself sculpting
it in mashed potatoes. Poring through
the many books I have on rock art I
finally found it; in my interpretation it
appears to be a variation of
Quetzalcoatl, the flying plumed ser-
pent. Note in the photos the similarity
of this symbol to those found at Hueco
Tanks. Nearby is another symbol
scratched into the rock, an outlined
plus or cross, usually interpreted as the
14
Cenizo
North Star, also associated with
Quetzalcoatl.
Quetzalcoatl was the chief deity of
the Toltec civilization of Mexico,
known as the plumed or feathered ser-
pent, which later became a deity for
the Aztec civilization. Elaborate
images of this deity have been carved
in pyramids and temples of both civi-
lizations. More simple images have
been carved and painted in and
around rock shelters in New Mexico,
Arizona and Texas. In some images it
has a bird’s beak and a horn on its
head, or perhaps what appears to be a
horn is a plume of feathers.
Some of the more detailed depic-
tions are of a large snake with feath-
ered wings flying, much like a dragon.
Dragon legends exist all around the
world in many cultures and countries
such as China, Persia, Eastern and
Western Europe, Ancient Greece, and
several mentions in Biblical text. Some
scholars have posited that fossils of
dinosaurs have inspired these legends;
are not the Archaeopteryx skeletons
that have been found feathered flying
Second Quarter 2014
lizards? Some areas of the world insist
dragons exist today, such as the mon-
ster of Loch Ness, Champ in Lake
Champlain, or Mokele Mbembe in the
African Congo, all described as a giant
reptile or dinosaur.
I have spent some time hiking
around the canyons and mountains of
San Carlos, Mexico, not far from the
site of the Quetzalcoatl image. Some
residents there have related to me the
legend of a giant 30-foot winged rat-
tlesnake that lives high in a mountain
cave; it takes flight at night, feeding on
sheep, goats, or an unlucky human if
the opportunity arises. Is this legend
derived from the more ancient legend
of Quetzalcoatl, passed down through
oral tradition from the Aztecs to pres-
ent day? The people who related this
story to me certainly believed in a
feathered serpent, it was as real to
them as the Chupacabra is to others.
Perhaps dragons never existed, but
it is interesting to see that a mythical
flying serpent has been spoken, drawn
and written about in so many separate
cultures. In grade school I eagerly
awaited the arrival of the Weekly Reader,
the kids’ newspaper. Being like so
many children I was fascinated with
dinosaurs, so imagine my delight when
it featured an article on the largest fly-
ing reptile fossil, found in my home
state of Texas! I still recall the artist’s
rendering of the Texas Pterosaur, with
a 50 foot wingspan, placed next to a
fighter jet airplane and human for per-
spective. Present-day fossil analysis has
reduced the wingspan of the Pterosaur
to approximately 37 feet, but that still
makes it a giant flying lizard that sure-
ly would strike terror in any creature it
glided over. The scientific name given
to this discovery was Quetzalcoatlus
Northropi, and to this day it is remains
the largest flying reptile discovered;
when it stood up it was the height of a
giraffe.
Some may scoff at the thought that
dragons ever existed, but in the Big
Bend their skeletal remains have been
found and their images carved in
stone. I have seen both and I believe.