San Rafael Swell Again, Part 4 - April 27, 2007 (Re-run)

 While technically not in the San Rafael Swell, Sego Canyon is close enough to be included here.  With a history that goes back thousands of years, at least three different cultures of indigenous peoples left their marks here in the form of rock art.  The most recent pictographs were made by the Utes, probably in the 19th century.  Early settlers followed suit and carved their names and other words, sometimes vandalizing older art.  Modern visitors have also marked the canyon walls, one as recently as 1977.

 

The canyon is also the site of a ghost town with history back to the 1890s, when a local rancher discovered coal.  A small mining operation initially, it prospered for a while and changed ownership several times.  The operation suffered many problems from flash floods to loss of water supply, to company-labor issues, catastrophic fire and finally loss of the major customer when the railroad switched from coal burning engines to diesel in 1947.  A few people continued to live there until 1973.

Of the remaining structures, the company store is best preserved.  The old boarding house is a pile of decaying lumber, but another wooden building still stands.  The cemetery is an interesting tour.  For a complete history of the camp, I recommend Sego Canyon History.

We paid another visit to Crystal Geyser, and this time found it starting to erupt.  Before we left, the geyser was reaching a height of about ten feet.