Dallas filmmaker shares fight to save ancient human history at Gault Site in Central Texas
If you've never heard of Gault, lean in.
"So, leave it to a Texan to go to Antarctica and come home with a story about Texas," said Dallas' Olive Talley with a laugh.
It was 2017. The former journalist was enjoying a lecture on the peopling of the Americas. Her ears perked up when she heard Texas.
"And he told us about this place in central Texas that has helped rewrite history," said Talley. "And all of us Texans turned to each other and said, 'Have you ever heard of this? No.' And I thought, as a journalist, 'Why not? Why the heck had I never heard of this place?'"
Talley's natural curiosity kicked in and she reached out to Mike Collins, the University of Texas at Austin archaeologist responsible for discovering the site. So, yes, she began to dig. Sorry, I couldn't resist, and Talley played along.
"Yes, I do love that pun," she said with a chuckle. "Yes, I dug into Gault and realized that we have this special gem, this hidden treasure of an archaeological site here in our backyard in central Texas. And most people have never heard of it."
Talley's five-year journey to change that became an award-winning independent film called "The Stones Are Speaking."
"Experts thought the first people came into the Americas around 13,000 or 13,500 years ago," said Talley. "But how can that be if, in fact, there's this little spot in what is now modern-day Texas where there's evidence of people living here and camping here 20,000 years ago?"
Those first humans in the Americas are called the Clovis Culture. Evidence that Collins and his team discovered put them in central Texas thousands of years earlier than experts once believed. But securing the artifacts that proved it was at times like shoveling quicksand.
"The first time he walked onto the site, it looked like a World War I battlefield with all these big holes gouged out," said Talley. "But he looked beyond that, and he saw a landscape. And he's looking through the eyes of a geologist and an archaeologist, and he's saying, 'There's a constant supply of water. There's a big supply of chert, which people make their stone tools out of... and there were food sources for people and animals. You had everything here to sustain life in prehistoric times.'"
And it almost remained hidden. The site had been on the radar of both expert and amateur collectors for nearly a century. Generations of landowners had allowed visitors to dig for arrowheads for a fee. But treasures far more precious were hidden in the bedrock below, just waiting for the right mix of curiosity, commitment and expertise. UT archaeologist Dr. Mike Collins, said Talley, was all these and more.
"And as I got to know Mike Collins and as I learned about all the thousands of volunteers who he rallied, who felt the same way about him that I was feeling, I just thought, 'There's a wonderful, untold story here about the perseverance and the passion that it took to develop this place, protect this place, and reveal all these secrets.'"
Although it would take years for Talley to tell Collins' story, it took much longer for him to prove that there was a story that needed to be told. He first began exploring the site in 1991. But at one point, citing ethical concerns, the university pulled its support and the dig was shut down. Later, after those issues were resolved, the landowners stopped cooperating and the site was closed to scientists again. But Collins, said Talley, was as stubborn as the rocks being dug out of the ground around him.
"After overcoming many odds, he purchased the property with his own money, mortgaging a lot of personal property that he and his wife had, and they bought the place to save it because the landowners were going to sell it," said Talley.
Collins not only purchased what is now known as the Gault Site, he then promptly gave it away, turning it over to local nonprofits to ensure that its treasures would be protected for generations to come.
"It could have become a development," said Talley. "There could have been houses there. It's surrounded by 20 different rock quarries! So I mean, who knows what would have happened to the property?"
Talley's moviemaking mission was to allow the stones to speak. The celebration of its success, though, is not how the story ends.
"So I feel such pressure to tell his story..." Talley paused, fighting for composure, and her eyes filled with tears. "Mike Collins is one of the most passionate, selfless, inspiring people I've ever met in my life. I guess what I find so tragic about this story is that this brilliant mind is being eroded by this horrible disease called Alzheimer's, and I feel compelled and I felt compelled throughout the whole project to do this story and get it done, because I knew that at some point Mike could not tell his own story. And so I'm telling his story on his behalf."
The history-altering site that Collins saved is now open for monthly tours and future scientists, all drawn to hear what the stones have to say.
And when asked why we should listen?
"It's history," said Talley. "It's our history. It's human history, and it's really fascinating. If you'll just stop and think and let the stones speak to you."
"The Stones Are Speaking" will air as part of the USA Film Festival on Sunday, April 27 at 4 p.m. at the Angelika Theater in Dallas.
