Explore this exhibit: A Wild Land

13,000 Years of cultures smashed by the forces of this region

For almost 15,000 years before the Texas Frontier was settled, humans traveled through this region on foot. But this was no place to make a permanent home. It was a harsh land, and each day was a life or death struggle. Climate alternated between ice ages, and torrid heat and drought cycles. One culture after another disappeared from the ravages of weather, wild animals or human enemies. But around 1700, the Comanche, riding horses introduced to the New World by Spanish explorers, claimed this region as home. This wild and perilous land was about to get a lot wilder, and a lot more dangerous.