San Rafael Swell, UT (6/15 & 6/17/2018), Green River (6/18/2018)

After leaving Buckhorn Wash, I drove through some areas for the first time and found a few interesting/strange things I want to share. 

In 1948, the Department of Defense let a contract with the Morrison Knudsen Company to dig a series of tunnels into several sandstone buttes near here.  Later, large explosions were detonated above each tunnel, obviously testing the ability to withstand powerful blasts.  The project lasted more than four years, but was kept secret.  Even workers on the project weren't told its purpose.  Several years later, the NORAD (North American Defense) system started construction of a "bunker" deep within Cheyenne Mountain, near Colorado Springs, CO.  That facility is below some 2000 feet of solid granite, which I think is a much stronger defense against blasts (such as nuclear bombs) than the sandstone in San Rafael Swell.

Also along the roadway, there is a series of metal cutouts, showing prospectors leading pack mules.  This signifies the past importance of mining to this region.

Next, smoke billowed above a large butte, but I never learned what was burning.  It must have been some man-made structure, as there is nothing natural in this desert that will burn.

One of the more famous rock art sites is called the Rochester Panel, so remote I had never visited it.  Arriving at the site, I found it was necessary to hike down into a canyon, along the bottom, then up again to the canyon rim.  After half a mile, the petroglyphs came into view.  I'll show only the more significant ones.

 

 One looks a lot like an alligator, but I don't know how an Indian here would have been aware of alligators.

Another seems to be a bear image.  Given the hump on the shoulder, it must have been a grizzly.

There was also an inscription from a settler, dated1928.

Heading back toward Green River, I detoured to visit another site I had not seen before.  Here were several inscriptions by CCC workers in 1939, no doubt building roads at that time.  Another boulder contained a petroglyph of a snake about six feet long.

On another day, I revisited some sites I had seen more than ten years ago.  Unfortunately, some rock containing spectacular pictographs has broken in the interim, severely damaging the art.  This is a reminder of how incredible it is that so many art sites are still in good shape.

The Dutchman Arch is still doing well.

I had not seen the Lone Warrior pictograph before this trip.

The four Swasey Brothers ran cattle in the Swell for many years without any living quarters.  They slept on the ground, in caves, etc, wherever they happened to be at the time.  Finally, they built a one room cabin.  For many reasons, locals considered the Swaseys to be "wild boys".  Several landmarks in the area are named for them, such as "Sid's Leap", where Joe dared Sid to jump a gorge sixteen feet wide and quite deep.  Here is a photo of the cabin.

Near the Temple Mountain Campground, pictographs show signs of bullet holes, possibly put there by the Swaseys.

Three Finger Canyon was next on my route.  After a long, rough ride, I found the petroglyphs were very close to the parking area.  It was unusual that images were pecked into the sandstone slope that leads to the vertical cliff, where more images are located.

My last day in Green River, I drove into Coal Canyon and located petroglyphs on a couple large boulders, thanks to the nice lady at the Visitor Center who gave me a map.

I'm back in Montrose now, awaiting the next opportunity to make a short trip.  See you then.