Big Bend Home & Garden
by Kleo Belay
Historic photos of Alpine from the late 1800s, when the town was still known as
Murphyville, show a dusty desert outpost on the newly constructed railroad. Before the railroad,
except for a few springs in the vicinity and spots along the creek bed, Alpine was another
sunbaked piece of Earth in a wide desert expanse.
Historic photos of Alpine from the late 1800s,
when the town was still known as Murphyville,
show a dusty desert outpost on the newly
constructed railroad. Before the railroad,
except for a few springs in the vicinity and spots
along the creek bed, Alpine was another
sunbaked piece of Earth in a wide desert
expanse.
As the town became the county seat and an
economic center for the Big Bend region, the
people who came to settle here transformed
the harsh desert into a small forest oasis.
Supported by well water in addition to rainfall,
many species—fruit trees, nonnatives and
desert species usually found near rivers, creeks,
or springs—thrive in the high altitude yet
temperate climate of the Texas “Alps.”
Higher altitudes often receive more rainfall
released from clouds building and breaking
against the mountainous land masses reaching
into the sky. In addition, a recently developed
theory of a “biotic pump” argues that the level
of rainfall in a region is influenced by trees and
forests. Where previously it was believed wind
currents and rainfall patterns are influenced
entirely by changes in temperature, the biotic
pump theory proposes that forests and trees
also influence wind currents and attract rainfall.
The atmospheric implications from the
moisture generated and held by forests are
possibly a driving force behind the winds
directing precipitation.
Regardless of whether or not the increasing
tree cover of Alpine has attracted more rainfall,
it is certain that these trees are catalysts for life.
What moisture is in the air, they absorb. The
shade they provide cools the earth and slows
evaporation. Their leaves and the birds, insects,
and reptiles that trees attract add nutrients to
the soil. A tree’s roots and canopy form a
matrix where rainwater is absorbed instead of
running off as often occurs in the open desert.
Here is a look at some of the trees of Alpine,
the town’s long standing residents whose
presence are part of the beauty, refuge, and
quality of life found in this quiet mountain
town.
An Elm tree has taken up residence in a narrow alley
between two downtown businesses on Holland Ave.
This opportunist tree is found throughout Alpine,
popping up in areas where rainfall is diverted. In the
late summer months, a parasitic insect devours the
foliage, but these trees are quickgrowing and leaf out
again each spring.
Rio Grande Cottonwood
At its base, the trunk of this giant is 26 feet
around. While most species of cottonwood have
an average life span of around 50 years, some
Rio Grande Cottonwoods are known to be older
than 200, and still growing. In an area of Alpine
where there existed an historic spring and the
ground water is close to the surface, this ancient
tree’s roots have been wet for likely over a
century.
20 Cenizo Summer 2020