Thompson Springs, UT (6/11 and 6/12/2018)

Thompson Springs is a small town with little apparent reason for being.  Its population at the last census was 39, probably less now.  At one time, it provided support for the coal mine in nearby Sego, now a ghost town, with both railroad facilities and a place on Highway 6/50.  The train doesn't stop here anymore and I-70 bypassed the town, although only a couple miles away.  In short, Thompson Springs is almost a ghost town itself.

Amazingly, there are two RV parks in town, although one is very small and not well developed.  The one where I stayed is actually pretty nice, despite being in the desert.  It has several reasons for people to come here.  One is the fact that Moab is only about 40 miles away and the RV parks there frequently fill up.  Another is its proximity to vast desert areas dotted with old mines and interesting land forms, such as arches and slot canyons.  Many off-road trails start right at the campground, so vehicles don't have to be licensed for the highway.

Another reason people might come here is the one that applies to me.  Only a few miles away, in Sego Canyon, is one of the best rock art exhibits ever found.  My last visit here was in 2007 and I wanted to see it again.  What makes this site special is the work of three different Indian cultures covering thousands of years.  As a bonus, there is a ghost town nearby, called Sego, which really adds to the historic value of this place.

The oldest rock art, created by the Archaic culture, is done in what's called Barrier Canyon Style.  In some places, this style has been carbon dated to as much as 7000 BC.  The style is in pictographs (painted) where life size figures are depicted with bug heads and hollow eyes, making many people theorize they were inspired by aliens.  Figures are often seen holding snakes, which probably was part of their culture.

The Fremont style of art, petroglyphs pecked into the rock, was done by a people who were contemporaries of the Anasazis living in the southern reaches of the Colorado Plateau.  The art styles were similar, but the Fremonts were nomadic people, living in earth pits and caves, or even wickiups made of sticks found lying around.  They left no evidence of housing like the Anasazis.

The Utes were numerous small bands of Indians scattered all across the region, living in both deserts and mountains.  They were the earliest to acquire horses from the Spanish in the 1500s.  Rock art created by Utes usually contained some drawings of horses.  Their pictographs have multiple colors and appear more modern.

 Some panels in Sego Canyon have more than one style, as well as inscriptions from early European settlers.  Modern graffiti can also be seen.  A man named Glenn Hyatt not only carved his name, but a large set of his initials.  One inscription is dated 1881.

The town of Sego was founded when coal was discovered here in 1908 by a man named Henry Ballard.  The mine had a checkered history, prosperity mixed with frequent problems.  It persisted until 1954, when the demand for coal diminished with the advent of diesel powered locomotives.

The town's cemetery has mostly undated graves, but I did find one with dates.  Strangely, a Viet Nam veteran was buried here in 1995, but his connection to this town is unknown to me.

There are many ruins of homes and other buildings throughout the canyon, including the flattened boarding house (still standing in 2007) and the stone company store.  When the mining company had trouble meeting payroll, they paid in scrip that could be used at the company store.

I found one entrance to a mine, although I suspect there were several others.

The railroad had a spur line into Sego for hauling out the coal.  The line crossed a wash thirteen times in its five mile length.  One trestle remains, although tracks have been removed from most of the line.  Cross ties can be seen in fences on nearby ranches.

Water was a constant issue for the town.  Wooden aquaducts and metal pipes were both used to carry water from wherever it might be found.

The next day, I went to the local Visitor Center and the lady there gave me tips on other rock art sites.  With her hand drawn maps, I went to Crescent Junction to see them.  Crescent Junction is nothing but an interstate exit with a gas station and an interesting store that sells jerky.  The desert just north of the interstate is where the EPA is burying radioactive wastes from a major cleanup site in Moab.  Some sixteen million tons of contaminated earth is being moved here via railroad.  The project has been active since 2009, yet little more than half has been moved.  The project is taking much longer and costing much more than originally anticipated.

The first art site was in a huge boulder that split when it fell from the cliff.  Inside the split was much cooler than outside.  This may explain why art is often found in such locations.

At one of the sites I didn't find art, but came across a strange object on the ground.  I have no clue what it's for, and I didn't look inside the openings (vents?), thinking there may be radioactive waste inside.

At the final place on the lady's map, she had said "you come to a hill".  I found the hill and a very narrow "road" winding up to the top of the canyon.  I drove as far as I could, but was stopped by a buried boulder sticking out about eighteen inches.  I probably could have gotten over it with more speed, but was concerned about bouncing sideways and off the cliff.  It also appeared I might get over the boulder if I went at the very edge, which seemed unstable to me.  In the end, I gave it up and backed down the road for nearly a mile, staying away from the edge as much as possible.  It was a harrowing experience to be sure.  Fortunately, I didn't scrape the LRJ by staying so close to the mountain as I backed down, but that would have been preferable to the alternative.