We are continually amazed at the variety of historical and beautiful features found in this corner of our country. Last year when we were here we visited a petroglyph site just on the edge of St. George. This past week there was an article in the local paper about another site nearby. Of course, it caught our eye and on a beautiful, warm, sunny Saturday afternoon we headed out again in search of this ancient Indian art form. This day took us south of the city about 5 miles. We were actually just over the Arizona state line. After driving back into nowhere on a rutted gravel road, we came to the Little Black Mountain Petroglyph Site.
The site is at the base of a mesa where many large boulders have fallen away and tumbled down to the dessert floor below. Many of them are sandstone which became blackened over millions of years. It must have struck the native people as the perfect canvas on which to express themselves. After we parked the car and started walking, it was literally a few steps before we saw the first image. We wandered among the huge rocks searching for images. It was neat to imagine the ancient people choosing the perfect rock as their canvas and then scratching away the black surface to create the wonderful pictures which tell the story of their lives.
We were also amazed that it is obvious people who have visited the site have been respectful of the images and their value. You are free to climb, explore, investigate, and touch without any restrictions. Yet, we only saw one spot where a modern "wanna be" had etched a drawing and a couple rocks that some local rednecks had used for target shooting practice. Yikes.
Special shout out to our son Scott. He turned 39 on Friday. Love and birthday wishes to you, Scott.
Hugs to Everyone else out there. Sending you good vibes from St. George.
Bob and Deb
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