Luna Jacal, Big Bend National Park

The Luna Jacal or Luna's Jacal was the residence of Gilberto Luna, a Mexican pioneer farmer in the area of Texas that would become Big Bend National Park. The jacal, an indigenous Tejano dwelling suited to the desert environment, was built about 1890 with a low sandstone and limestone wall about 4 feet, with forked poles set upright into the walls, supporting roof poles. The house backs up to a large boulder. A heavier line of poles extends the length of the jacal. The roof was made of ocotillo branches weighted down with earth and stones, presently replaced with an inappropriate soil-cement roof. Luna raised a large family at the jacal, peacefully coexisting with otherwise hostile Comanche who used the Alamo Creek area as a war trail. Luna died there in 1947 at age 108 or 109. ()