Monthly Meetings

NTAS Monthly Meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of the month, at 7:00pm except in June and December. The monthly meetings are located at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in the Research & Education Building, Room 114. The NTAS meetings are hybrid meetings held in-person and offered via Zoom.

NTAS meetings are a staple of our membership. In these meetings, we discuss NTAS Announcements, which include upcoming volunteer opportunities, upcoming NTAS events, upcoming Texas Archeology Society (TAS) events, and each month we feature a guest speaker. Our guest speakers deliver programs on various archeological topics. Past topics include geoarcheology, bioarcheology, regional archeological sites and topics, and more. NTAS meetings are open to the general public.

Guests are welcome to join all NTAS monthly meetings in-person or via Zoom. To receive the Zoom link for our programs, please email info@ntxas.org .

March 9th, 2023 Monthly Meeting

Topic: “The Camp Meyers Spring (41TE9) Conquistador & Lower Pecos River Spanish Soldiers Pictograph (Ring Bit Shelter, 41VV339)”

Guest Speakers: Tom Ashmore, C.A. Maedgen

Abstract:

A small pictographic image on the vast 100-foot story wall of Meyers Spring in the Lower Pecos region of Texas, near the Rio Grande River, is very likely an overlooked depiction of the first contact between Lower Pecos Indians and sixteenth century Spanish Conquistadors. The depiction is not very large and has been overlooked over the years, probably most viewers assuming it is depicting an Indian warrior due to the shield being held. However, there are multiple aspects of this image that do not match for any Indian tribe and do match for the Conquistadors. This report will give a detailed analysis of the pictograph to explain the probability that it is, in fact, an Indian depiction of Spanish Conquistadors and may represent the first contact between the Jumano Plains Indians and the Spanish Conquistadors in Texas.

A large pictographic image on a wall facing the Lower Pecos River, near the Rio Grande River, Texas is very likely a depiction story of the Lower Pecos Indians as they watched a scouting party

from the Gaspar Castaño de Sosa Expedition on their 1590 transit through the area. Although the Castaño de Sosa Expedition was not officially a Conquistador expedition, it was at the end of that

period and his soldiers were dressed and carrying weapons in the same manner as the Conquistador expeditions of only a decade earlier.

About: Tom Ashmore

Bio: Tom spent 22 years in the Air Force as a special intelligence analyst. After retiring active duty he taught intelligence skills for another 20 years for the Air Force Intelligence School at Goodfellow AFB, Texas. He headed up avocational archeological investigations for the Concho Valley and Iraan Archeological Societies and worked closely with the Texas Archeological Society over the last 15 years. He completed a book in 2019 on his Butterfield Trail investigations, ‘The Butterfield Trail Through The Concho Valley And West Texas.’ He is currently a member of the West Texas (formerly Iraan) Archeological Society and board member of the Southwest Federation of Archeological Societies.

About: C.A. Maedgen, III

Bio: C.A. is a military veteran who served in Viet Nam at Da Nang in the U.S. Air Force in 1970. Prior to military service C.A. graduated from SMU in 1966 with a degree in Geology and in 1968 graduated with an MFA in Communications. After military service C.A. worked in Houston as a licensed Real Estate Broker for 10 years and in the last 30 years C.A. worked for a national chemical manufacturer as a sales and service engineer. C.A. has many hours of volunteer archeology service at Fort Chadbourne and at Fort Concho historic sites, Butterfield Trail station sites, Horse Head Crossing, Lower Pecos Rock Art sites, Lower Pecos archeology sites, and worked with Texas State University at Eagle Cave and archeological explorations for the Nature Conservancy at Independence Creek. C.A. served for over 10 years as the Region 10 Director of the Texas Archeological Society, 4 years as president of the Concho Valley Archeological Society, and past board member of the Southwest Federation of Archeological Societies. He is currently an active member of the West Texas (formerly Iraan) Archeological Society and Texas Archeological Society. Last but not least, he spent 14 plus years in cooperation with and supporting Tom Ashmore on various archeological projects.

Monthly meetings

March 9th, 2023 Monthly Meeting

Topic: “The Camp Meyers Spring (41TE9) Conquistador & Lower Pecos River Spanish Soldiers Pictograph (Ring Bit Shelter, 41VV339)”