Executive Summary The Ute Indians of western Colorado, USA are of the Uto-Aztecan family with six subgroups known as the : Numic, Takic, Pimic, Taracahitic, Corachol, and Aztecan. Utes, Paiutes and Shoshonean are collectively referred to as the Numic. Numic traditions are characteristic of a hunter/gatherer life ways that relies heavily on knowledge of game trails and hunting strategies and seasonal locations of wild plant foods. Within western Colorado are found Ute petroglyph panels believed to depict maps of trails that navigate the local and difficult terrains. They may describe game drive strategies, locations of springs, and plan (and bird) procurement locals. Specific petroglyph panels have been identified by Clifford Duncan, Northern Ute Elder as that he explains are orientation to the south (instead of the north) and map the terrain within the Gunnison Gorge NCA and the Uncompahgre Plateau including the DENCA. These petroglyph maps are of the Proto-historic and Historic era that date to 1300 1900 A.D. They correspond with the archaeological evidence of Numic occupation in both DENCA and GGNCA. Background Context This study was conducted under the pretense that some Ute rock art panels may represent maps. The sampled petroglyph sites are those determined to be created during the Numic settlement and occupation of the Uncompahgre Plateau that includes the Dominguez Escalante NCA and Gunnison Gorge NCA during the Protohistoric and Historic era (A.D. 1300-1900). The Numic traditions are characteristic of a hunter/gatherer life style that relies heavily on knowledge of game trails, hunting strategies, procurement of wild foods and knowing the location of water sources. Numic lifeways require a detailed knowledge of the trail systems that navigate the local and difficult terrains. The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area is characteristic of plants and animal life that vary from one section to another. Biologists have studied and managed game animal migrations and trail systems, Sage Grouse habitation, wild plants and even endangered species that live in specific areas within the conservation area. Native people knew where to harvest each species and had established trails through canyons and over the mesas to reach these areas. It has been pointed out by Clifford Duncan, Ute tribal elder that passing on this knowledge to younger generations would be advantageous for survival. In the event that the bands dispersed and returned a generation later and the younger people would not be familiar with the terrain and a map with references to game and plant resources would be useful. petroglyph maps describe game drive strategies, within the context of the local terrain. Clifford has explained the scenario of paired hunters driving animals from a lower elevation, toward a concealed hunter at the higher elevation. Game animals naturally flee uphill with the direction of the wind and warm air that carries the sent of their pursuer. Clifford pointed out that rock art 1
These two classes of rock art maps are described herin. General Terrain Maps The first example is a rock art panel located in the Shavano Valley Petroglyph site about 5 miles west of Montrose, Colorado. Ute map according to Clifford Duncan, Ute tribal elder Clifford Duncan, Ute Tribal Elder has interpreted the image on the right side of the panel as depicting a map of the Uncompahgre Plateau directly to the southwest. He explained that Ute Indians orient themselves to the South, rather than the north. So, by rotating the petroglyph drawing 180 degrees, one can see a striking correlation to the USGS topographic map of the immediate area. Petroglyph at Shavano Valley and Uncompahgre Plateau with Shavano Valley overlay. 2
A B C E G H D F The petroglyph on the far left has been rotated 180 degrees. To the Utes, the south is where the sun comes from and sun-wise direction from east to west (clockwise) is the preferred direction of travel (Duncan 2005). When this petroglyph is rotated to orient to the south, it has corresponding features to those found in the immediate area map of the Uncompahgre plateau. The corresponding features proposed are labeled a z and placed on the topographic map. A Horseshoe Basin B Travelers Basin C Roubideau Canyon D Oak Hill E Dry Creek basin F Horsefly peak G Uncompahgre River H Shavano Valley, petroglyph location. 3
The green areas are basins that game animals migrate to in the winter. They are located along Roubideau Canyon and river drainage. Down the center is Dry Creek, resemble an upsidedown tree. To the far right is the Uncompahgre River. The direct overlay of the petroglyph map over the physical land features has a remarkable correspondence. The circled areas are the highest elevations where game animals congregate. On the left is Oak Hill, and the center is a large high meadow plateau on the slope of Horsefly Peak and is within a private hunting ranch. Both areas have a high density of cultural material. BLM Range Administration Manager Deborah Birch grew up in this area and her family ran cattle from east to west across the Plateau to summer grazing in Horseshoe Basin. She identified the east/west linear features on the petroglyph map as those trails she knows well and used every summer. Historic activity on the plateau has created new roads and graded over the old Ute trails. Visitors can find traces of the prehistoric trails but they are no longer in use for cattle drives. Following this pattern of Ute petroglyphs and their association with the adjacent landscape, a study was conducted of several other similar looking petroglyphs and their possible association with the adjacent landscape. The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area The GGNCA is known to contain many cultural resources attributed to Ute culture including wikiup camps and Ute trails. The Smith Fork of the Gunnison Gorge is now on private land but it is geographically part of the river and canyon complex that makes up the GGNCA. Located adjacent to the NCA boundary in the upper end of the Smith Fork is a petroglyph panel known to Smith Fork of the Gunnison and encircled with a square on the lower left side of the photograph. 4
The petroglyph was photographed directly straight on, oriented to the north. The linear features are emphasized in this drawing. Then this drawing is rotated (shown here) and placed upon a topographic map of the area to the south, the correspondence with the Ute trail location, the Smith Fork, and the adobe hill encircled are apparent. 5
A B C E D F H I G Map Rock at Smith Fork of the Gunnison and with the petroglyph overlay on a topo map. 6
The features that coincide with the petroglyph and the topographic map are labeled A Z for clarification. The two circled areas coincide with the two high elevation knobs that have elaborate rock art panels and overlook the Gunnison River. Lawhead gulch runs down between them. A - Two circles at the top encircle the highest elevations overlooking the Gunnison River. They encircle two very old and extensive rock art sites with up to 16 panels of figures at each site. B - C The prominently pecked diagonal broad line aligns with the Gunnison Gorge. D the pecked line in this location aligns with the trail up Red Canyon with connecting trails up Black Ridge and known wikiup villages. E Trail up from Gunnison Gorge to Black Ridge F Ute Trail Ford marked on BLM maps linking the game trails up Long Gulch to mesa top with connecting trails up to Buttermilk Mesa. G The pecked quadruped in this location aligning an animal crossing still used by game animals has not been retraced. H Hunting Blind overlooking traditional Sage Grouse habitat I The pecked pikey motif in this area aligns with the traditional Sage Grouse breeding grounds on Grizzly Ridge. The following analysis addresses each corresponding element from the petroglyph to the feature on the landscape. Beginning at the top of the map, there are two circles joined by a line corresponds to two petroglyph sites and roughly to a dividing gulch called Lawhead Gulch. See 7
A and B are correspond to archaeological sites 5DT335 and 5DT813. When examined more closely, the following sample of rock art panels are of antiquity probably dating from the Late Archaic era. Site 5DT813 was fully documented (Patterson Watchman 2006.) The petroglyphs dated from the Archaic era to the Historic Ute. A - Site 5DT355 consists of a large array of petroglyphs on a cliff face overlooking the river. 8
B - Site 5DT813 contains 16 panels of Archaic through Historic Ute petroglyphs Lawhead Gulch opens up at the location of this cave and deer and elk pass by frequently as they come down from the higher elevations and access the river for water or to cross at the sandbar that extends across at this location. During a field recording of the Gunnison Gorge rock shelter in the GGNCA, a herd of mule deer appeared above the site, up on this lookout point. It was captured on video and used to demonstrate the use of game trails that still exist from this high lookout point, down Lawhead Gulch and past the Gunnison Gorge rock shelter down to the river. Video footage of these animals crossing in front of 5DT813 was taken while documenting the petroglyphs at this site. Lawhead gulch is an important migration trail used by animals both prehistorically and in the present. The large petroglyph panel of deer and elk above the cave seems to be associated with the heavily used game trail adjacent to it. 9
Footage was taken of the deer crossing the river in view of the cave, at a natural sandbar that affords the best crossing within the Gunnison Gorge NCA. C - The Gunnison Gorge aligned with the engraved line on the panel. engravings do not incorporate any of the natural rock features, as so often is the case with other map like images throughout the western states. Features such as cracks and bumps are usually (See Rock Art Bibliography for hundreds of citations on rock incorporation.) One can see from the photograph that the engraved line running nearly diagonally across the rock face does not incorporate any natural features, and the bedding plane features of the rock surface are distinct and untouched. 10
D Trail out of the Gunnison Gorge to Black Ridge. The trail up to Black Ridge from the Gunnison Gorge was retraced. Today, trail riders and recreationalists have improved trails that lead from the Gorge up into Red Canyon and out towards Crawford. It is not known how much of the modern trail overlays the prehistoric trail. Private land ownership has shifted many parts of the trail on to Public land for public use. Ute Park Ute trail to Ute Park Black Ridge Long Gulch Red Canyon Buttermilk Ridge Illustration shows in black are the petroglyph lines. The red lines are retraced trails in the GGNCA. E The labyrinth of game trails that lead off of Buttermilk Ridge converge at Long Gulch. These trails were retraced and GPS points plotted on a map. One of the trail crossings was noted on the Gunnison River at the south end of Ute Park. 11
Trails leading up to Buttermilk Mesa Trail leading up to Buttermilk Mesa, west facing slope 12
Trail Trails leading north to Red Canyon and Black Ridge Trails converge Trails leading to Red Canyon and Black Ridge 13
Projectile point found on the east rim overlooking Ute Park Bench overlooking Ute Park where projectile was located. 14
F Ute Trail Ford, BLM records, and Animal Crossing at the end of Ute Park, still used by game animals Ute Park Map showing the encircled area of Ute Park and the location of the Ute Trail Ford that leads to Long Gulch. G Sage Grouse traditional breeding grounds The image on the left side of the panel is a unique spikey-looking motif. It is unlike anything in the rock art data conforming to a named zoomorph or naturalistic renderning. Worldwide there is a pattern among Indigenous cultures, that follows a pattern of depicting large animals in profile view, small reptiles and insects in plan view and humans in front view. The from the top down. Identifying traits for a lizard versus a turtle for example are the legs and tail and body width from the top down. Large animals are scene in profile. Elk, deer, fox, crane, are identified by their profiles. Humans are drawin face on and identifying traits are picked up in the headdress, accompanying weapons and arm gestures. Humans would be difficult to distinguish if drawn in profile or top down. 15
The Sage Grouse in breeding season is distinguished from other birds by the display of its spikey tail feathers and bulbuls breast. So it would follow that a petroglyph of a sage grouse would emphasize these traits. The following pictures compare the petroglyph image and a Sage Grouse. The petroglyph may be a plan view of the bird. Below the radiating spiky motif is another image that may be a profile of the bird in breeding stance. The two images may represent the Sage grouse from two perspectives. It follows the tradition of drawing what is known rather than what is visually realistic from a single view or advantage point. Called Intellectual Realism, people draw from what they know, or see intellectually. The result is often from two or more perspectives combined. Picasso employed combined perspectives after studying tribal art in Africa. Primitive art of the Australian Aborigines, South American Inca, Moche and Chimu cultures employ imaging techniques of multiple perspectives as well. Examples in North America are numerous and beyond the scope of this paper to address. See Apendix?? and References for more examples. Plan View Profile view 16
57709-NLCS/RS UTE ROCK ART MAPS -- Draft Profile view Location of the Sage Grouse on the map. The petroglyph is turned 180 degrees and placed over the topographic map, this spikey image occurs on top of the Sage Grouse habitat. Location of hunting blind Sage Grouse Plains This map shows the location of the Sage Grouse Plain that is traditional habitat for Sage Grouse. The Dot locates the prehistoric hunting scaffold found at the site. During a recent survey for this area, a prehistoric hunting blind was discovered at the far northern end of the Sage Grouse breeding area. The orientation of the scaffolding faces out across a sage meadow with no obstructions in front of it. 17
This structure may well have been used as a hunting blind for both game animals and sage grouse. The two cross beams are very old with lichen growth and the tree trunk growth pinching the beam, shown here. The view from scaffold spans across the sage plane towards the east and the West Elk mountains. 18
19
Hunting Maps Several sites in the Uncompahgre Plateau adjacent to the DENCA have circle and line motifs that appear to be hunting strategies. Like maps, they show the movement patterns of game animals in the adjacent landscape. The next two examples fit closely to the local typography. Dry Creek Site This petroglyph site is located on the wall of a shallow rock shelter. It is on Public Land outside of the DENCA. It consists of the characteristic circles and lines, with a few quadrupeds. Cave with rock art panel Rock art panel Rotated to southern orientation 20
This panel depicts deer or game animals traveling from the large circled area to the smaller one, and up into the isolated circle. The Panel is rotated to orient to the South and then graphically placed over the immediate landscape on the adjacent finger like mesa directly south of the petroglyph panel. The long line is aligned with the long ridge that runs directly south of the panel. Larger grazing catchment area Animals move from this circle that is lower in elevation, up the ridge line to higher elevations. Animals may circle around highest point, called Coal Hill Animals may run all the way to the highest elevation above Dry yph Bob McKeever, (USFS Archaeologist and a hunter), explains that to him it is a very simple hunting map. Animals always go from lower elevations to higher elevations because scents travel with warm air that rises up in elevation. When pursued, the animals always move up in elevation until they reach the highest point. They naturally circle around a high point. Hunters all know this. Game animals circle a high point that allows them to survey everything and it calms them. (Cattle also circle and it calms them down). 21
This map shows the grazing area at one end (the large circle) and the line of travel towards the smaller circle. A team of hunters could stage themselves, one at the far end to drive the animals up the slope, and the other at any of the higher elevations, the Coal Hill area for game to circle around that, or near the over look of Dry Creek at the highest elevation. Previous research by Alpine Archaeological Consultants of a Prehistoric Use of the Escalante Game Drive Site (Reed???) found the following conclusions. The EGD site is composed of a combination of rock and brush fences and rock blinds strategically situated on the landscape. It has: 1) a collection area, where animals are first encountered; 2) a concentration area, formed by natural and architectural features 3) a kill area, where the concentrated animals are dispatched; and The collection area comprises approximately 1,000 acres of valley bottom, with easy access to permanent water. Access to the bottom land is provided by Wells gulch, which becomes progressively less entrenched to the east. The Gunnison River flows against the canyon wall to concentrate animals driven southward. The area south of the site is rugged talus, with slopes exceeding 60 percent grade. Travel along the river bottom south of the site would be difficult. It is believed that game animals that entered the river bottom, perhaps from Wells gulch, were driven south toward the Escalante Game drive site (Figure 12). 22
Catchment area Kill Site Figure 12 from the Alpine report with added circles connected by lines. Circles represent catchment area, and collection or procurement area. The line represents the drive line. Further research may discover a simple line and circle motif petroglyph in the cliffs along the river corridor near this site. 23
Close up of the drive line up the hill slope with numbered stone features used as fences to channel the game as they ran up the hill. 24
Moore Shelter Rock Art Map The Moore Shelter is located amid some low hills and at the intersection of a north/south running arroyo bisected by an east/west arroyo 25
Bisecting arroyo in front of the shelter At the back of the rock shelter there are many petroglyphs, some of which have been chalked in by visitors in previous decades. The petroglyph of interest is the upper right of the picture. 26
The petroglyph photograph and drawing are shown here. When the petroglyph is rotated, it fits over the topographic map like this. The red dot is the location of the Moore Shelter. The lines follow the arroyos and the circles encircle the game collection areas. At the site, there are game trails that come down the arroyo and pass in front of the cave. The bisecting arroyo leads to a broad flat area that supports grasses and chenopodium plants. Alternatively, the game trail leads south and climbs up to the highest point around the hill slope. Knowing game elevations, this area would provide an advantage for a skilled hunter. Fresh deer tracks were observed on these drive line routes and encirclement of the highest hill. Catchment area Moore Shelter Kill area Drive lines Plant resource and game catchment area 27
Clifford Duncan contends that Certain canyons would be ideal to persuade the animals to walk through there. Its just like walking into a trap. These (circle) igh -- high point, -- (line), the hunters could get them here, here and here. the same circle, a what time they are going to be there. The deer schedule it according to the light. At certain places they are not really alert, so these Indians study that and say well, at this point they are more at ease cause they are more concerned with eating. Hunting Maps of the DENCA in Dominguez Canyon The following are two on adjacent sides of a large boulder that occur in the Dominguez Canyon of the DENCA. Preliminary investigations of this panel with the characteristic circles and lines are underway. Clifford Duncan, Ute elder believes these are Petroglyph panel 1, and drawing 28
Drawing superimposed over the topographic map. Petroglyph Panel 2 with drawing 29
Petroglyph drawing superimposed over the landscape. Further Research The Dominguez Escalante National Conservation Area shows great promise for further exploration as to how the circle and line diagrams might relate to hunting strategies and game movement from the lower elevations to the higher ones. With further research and Ute consultation the proper alignments of the petroglyph over the landscape will be implemented. It will allow for the interpretation of the cultural and natural resource uses of the DENCA, which will then be available for land managers and visitors. Research Areas Cottonwood Creek panel (outside of DENCA) Map Rock in Uniweep/Gateway/Beaver Creek (outside of DENCA) Game Drive at Escalante Overlook (DENCA) Map at Escalante Forks (DENCA) Map at Escalante Bridge (DENCA) Map above the railroad tracks between Escalante and Dominguez cyn.(denca) 30
GGNCA Further Research is needed in the following areas: Gunnison Gorge to Grizzly Ridge and wikiup camps Buttermilk Ridge old growth trees and wikiup camps Red Canyon game trails up to the hunting blind, on Grizzly Ridge Trails up and down Long Gulch, to Red Canyon, Smith Fork trails and petroglyph sites (Archaic through Historic) Black Ridge wikiup camp Ford of Ute Trail located on BLM map - relocate Survey Work needed: Survey acreage for GGNCA, is targeted for Black Ridge, Buttermilk Ridge, ancient forest, Smith Fork trail data recover/site testing the Hunting blind, Grizzly Ridge, Sagegrouse habitat and Ute Trails project. Ancient Forest wikiup camps and trail links Tribal Consultation Ute consultation with Northern, Southern and Ute Mt. Ute for Ute Rock Art Trails, Smith Fork trail, Sage Grouse habi 31