The Texas-size swimming pool at Balmorhea State Park draws on desert springs that have sustained man and beast since prehistoric times. (BRYAN CHAN / Los Angeles Times)
Ran Horn, resident artist of Van Horn, copies Van Goghs. (BRYAN CHAN / Los Angeles Times)
A visitor to Chinati experiences art by minimalist Dan Flavin. (BRYAN CHAN / Los Angeles Times)
Ft. Davis was rebuilt after the Civil War to garrison troopsat times, the “Buffalo Soldiers”deployed to protect the San Antonio-El Paso road. (BRYAN CHAN / Los Angeles Times)
The set for “Dead Mans Walk,” filmed outside Van Horn, evokes the austere beauty of central West Texas. (BRYAN CHAN / Los Angeles Times)
May Carson dishes up her legendary burgers and coffee at her roadside cafe in Cornudas, population five. (BRYAN CHAN / Los Angeles Times)
Fake tepees shade tables at a motel in Van Horn, a rest-stop town just off Interstate 10; the towns its eccentric treasures are worth a closer look. (BRYAN CHAN / Los Angeles Times)
