Area is rich with ancient history and discovery

A rich history of petroglyphs and inscriptions is recorded in and around the Escalante-Dominguez National Conservation Area and the Roubideau Addition proposed for Congressional protection, said a specialist in cultural and historical ruins.

Carol Patterson, Ph.D., of Montrose has specialized in documenting and trying to preserve archaeological treasures of the Dominguez-Roubideau area and the southwestern U.S. for 30 years. She teaches cultural anthropology at Mesa State College, consults on archaeological relics and is author of a number of books on petroglyphs and Native American history in the region as well as interpretive brochures for the BLM on petroglyphs within Dominguez Canyon.

What Patterson sees in the canyons are the faces, visions and stories of ancient culture that can be seen in petroglyphs and inscriptions that go back perhaps 6,000 years and accompany Spanish colonial graffiti.  

“They are of exceptional value and deserve protection,” she said.

On the relatively recent historical scale, there was a visit to Roubideau Canyon by Spanish explorer Juan Marie Antonio de Rivera de Santa Fe in 1765 as he apparently searched for medicinal plants. The visit was probably a side jaunt since his general goals at that time were either to find gold or a route to California that could be claimed by Spain. In 2004, Patterson and colleagues verified that he carved his signature on the southeast wall of the canyon.     

There are also remnants of shelters left by early non-native settlers within Roubideau.

Patterson has spent excessive time in Roubideau and surrounding canyons, “Past the Rivera inscription panel upstream, on the right facing the stream is a beautiful petroglyph. The animals are facing upstream. I can’t tell you exactly where it is but I came down horseback from the top and rode for two hours to get  there,” Patterson said.

“The oldest drawings that we find in Dominguez and Roubideau and the Escalante bridge are lighter gray and can go back 6,000 years up to about 400 AD. These were archaic hunters and gatherers that had spears and hadn’t developed bows and arrows,” she said. “The spears have projectiles and the animals have fascinating large antlers and tapering legs. Later the lines grow darker.  The more powerful the weapon as we move through time, the smaller the animal. Later pictures with bows and arrow have hunters waiting and animals come around rock edge. They are shorter and stubbier and the hunters get more powerful.”   

“The later Ute drawings that have rifles are rabbit hunting.  The big animals stop.  The Ute pictures have horses in them”

In Palmer Gulch, south of Dominguez Canyon there are petroglyphs of rabbit hunts but, “I’ve also been told by Ute medicine men that these are also healing sites.  The petroglyphs are “interpreted” or read in concave rocks.  When you are in these concave recesses where the drawings are, your body is supposed to take the form of the recess and the rocks draw the sickness out of you.”

“Understanding what body language and sign language represents is an amazing process. All of it is metaphoric; what do the lizard and bear really mean to those who drew them?”      

For those interested in learning more about regional rock art, Patterson can be contacted at, urracapro@aol.com.