The Buckman sand peel site is rich in overlapping narratives that define the American west. It is the site of major water management and an unnatural, human-engineered flow where water diverted from the west (Pacific Ocean) side of the Continental Divide into the Rio Grande is diverted again from the Rio Grande and pumped uphill to Santa Fe to be incorporated into the municipal water supply.  The Buckman Diversion Project can supply 25-50% of the City of Santa Fe water demand. This site is also along the Camino Real, which was the major route of conquest and trade connecting Mexico City to one of the Spanish Empire’s northernmost outposts in Española, NM. The cliffs and canyons around the site are evidence of the flow of sediments and lava from Valles Caldera dating back to approximately 800,000 years ago. Native pueblo peoples living along the Rio Grande may have recognized the nearby volcanic vents as holy places with a sipapu or small hole in the ground that symbolizes the portal through which their ancient ancestors first emerged to enter the present world. It is also the site of flow of contaminated sediment from Los Alamos National Labs into the Rio Grande and of an underground high speed internet cable connecting the technology of the labs to the rest of the world.

Diablo Canyon is one mile up the Caja del Rio Arroyo from Buckman and has been the site of many major films since 1936, helping to create and promote the mythology of the west and the romanticism of western landscapes. The list of movies and TV shows filmed here includes:

• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

• Godless (2017)

• Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001)

• 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

• The Staircase (1998 TV Movie)

• Earth 2 (1994–1995)

• The Last Outlaw (1993 TV Movie)

• The Texas Rangers (1936)