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The World's Longest–and Oldest—Art Gallery

By Craig Lancto

Prehistory meets geology close to the surface in Utah, with a seemingly endless supply of dinosaur tracks and bones, some reconstructed in museums, others still visible in situ, the geological layers in which they are found revealing their age.  In a different way, the millennia-long presence of native peoples reveals itself in the pictographs and petroglyphs throughout the state.

In 2004, a Utah rancher named Waldo Wilcox revealed that his family had known about a 12-mile string of well-preserved prehistoric villages on their property along Range Creek in the Book Cliffs, for fifty years. Among the sites, about 130 miles from Salt Lake City, are hundreds of panels of rock art, granaries, dwellings, mummified remains, and arrowheads left by the prehistoric Fremonts who occupied the lands for thousands of years before the Common Era.

Although Mr. Wilcox has sold the land to the government, most of the public will not have access for some time for fear of the looting and vandalism that have affected other sites, although none as rich in artifacts as these.

One of the best places to enjoy a sense of the long history of American Indians is the San Rafael Swell near Price, Utah. The San Rafael Swell is a rugged patch of high desert with striking views of natural formations, canyons, and cliffs, a small but impressive version of the Grand Canyon, and the giant rock-art billboard of Buckhorn Wash, which has long been under siege by vandals.

The life-size pictographs, or painted figures, of the Barrier Canyon people have been refurbished after years of thoughtlessness had pocked them with gunshot and marred them with graffiti. Despite more than 2,000 years of exposure, these paintings—many more than six feet high—continue to attract attention. Because they are more distinct in shadow than in direct sunlight, this picture gives an idea of size, although the images are somewhat washed out by the sun.

The purpose of the rock art is not clear. One theory holds that the figures represent shamans, or holy men; others think that they might contain a record of historical events that were important to these ancient peoples.  Many of the Buckhorn Wash pictographs are elongated and ethereal. Some of them appear to be holding snakes or ropes. Less direct lighting helps these images to stand out more clearly.

In addition to pictographs, Buckhorn Wash has some petroglyphs, images that are pecked or etched into the rock with a sharp instrument.

About thirty miles from Price, Nine Mile Canyon, often called "the world's longest art gallery," offers the largest concentration of ancient rock art in the United States along its length, which is actually closer to forty miles.

Although they are smaller, petroglyphs and pictographs abound at Nine-Mile Canyon.  Built by Buffalo Soldiers from nearby Fort Duchesne, a dirt road runs close to the rock art, making it readily accessible. So much so that one of the oil companies exploring the area is helping to build a new road farther from the images. The thousands of petroglyphs and pictographs in Nine Mile Canyon represent peoples over thousands of years, from the prehistoric Fremont, to the later Anastazi, and modern Utes, from whom the state's name derives.

Nine Mile Canyon is a remote area with few amenities. However, nearby oil and gas reserves-and trucks racing along the narrow, curving dirt road, an increase in tourists and vandals, and seismic activity caused by vibrating equipment used to locate petroleum pockets have combined to add this national treasure to the list of the 11 most endangered historic sites in the United States. Oil companies are working with the Bureau of Land Management to protect these irreplaceable relics of our Native American heritage. Although the rock art is the main attraction of both of the above sites, they also offer other evidence of ancient life, including granaries high in the rock cliffs, earth homes, and pottery shards.

Anyone visiting Buckhorn Wash would do well to call Emery County Sheriff, LaMar Guymon to arrange for a knowledgeable guide through the area.

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