Petroglyph Canyon Historic Photos

Large wall of rock art at Petroglyph Canyon (Willis Vail Photo, 1905. © Old Oregon Photos.) 

For thousands of years native people carved and painted spiritually important images on the basalt cliff faces of what came to be known as Petroglyph Canyon. The canyon is located in south central Washington state near Columbia Hills State Park (see image below).


View of Petroglyph Canyon location. Columbia Hills State Park is at the red "You Are Here" dot (image courtesy of Washington State Parks)

Petroglyph Canyon was reported to have one of the largest concentrations of Indian rock art in North America before it was largely submerged in the pool behind The Dalles Dam (photo below) in 1957. Today much of the rock art, and the canyon itself, lie hidden beneath the waters of Horsethief Lake and the Columbia River at Columbia Hills State Park near Dallesport, WA.

We recently came across a website (www.oldoregonphotos.com) that displays (and sells) historic photographs.  John Klatt, who owns the Old Oregon website, has graciously allowed CultureWatch NW to reproduce some very old photos of Columbia Gorge rock art. (All historic photos in this post are © Old Oregon Photos).

As the giant hydroelectric generation dams were built on the Columbia River beginning in the 1930's many Native American cultural areas, including rock art sites, were flooded by the large lakes that formed behind them. Photographers, professional and amateur, scrambled to record the ancient images before they disappeared. 

By the way, if you have old photos of rock art from the Columbia Gorge and are willing to share them we would love to hear from you! Just send an email to culturewatch@gmail.com.

A number of petroglyphs and pictographs were actually "salvaged" by being physically removed from areas about to be submerged. Some of these rescued boulders, including a number of those shown in the old Benjamin Markham photos in this article, can be seen today along the Temani Peshwa Trail (photo below) at Columbia Hills State Park and at the Ginkgo Petrified Forest Recreation Area near Vantage, WA.

So let's take a look at the old photos! When available we've included both a historic picture (black and white) and a modern photo (color) so you can see how the rock art has changed in the last 75-100 years.

The photo on the left below was taken by Benjamin Markham in the 1920's. It shows the panel of petroglyphs in situ, still part of the cliff wall at Petroglyph Canyon. The same panel is visible at center left in the Willis Vail photo above. On the right below is the salvaged panel, now located on the Temani Peshwa Trail.

 


You will notice that the contrast between the petroglyphs and the background rock is much greater in the old photos. Historically it was a common practice to color or outline rock art with white chalk to make the images show up clearly in photos. This practice is now regarded as vandalism because it may take decades for the chalk to disappear.

Images in situ at Petroglyph Canyon. 

Markham Photo.

Salvaged boulder as it sits today on the Temni Peshwa Trail.

          

       Images in situ at Petroglyph Canyon (at left above, Markham Photo circa 1920's) and as they looks today on the Temani Peshwa Trail at Columbia Hills State Park.

The photo on the left (attributed to Markham but unsigned) was taken near Wishram, WA. A modern photo shows the beautiful color of the images which are a combination of petroglyphs and pictographs (painted on the rock surface).

The two photos below were also taken by Markham 
in the 1920's. Unfortunately we don't have any modern 
photos to compare them with. The image on the left was taken 
in Petroglyph Canyon and is now assumed to be 
submerged. The other was taken at a rock art site in 
Sherman County, Oregon.


Check out the historic photos at www.oldoregonphotos.com and when the weather warms up (after April 1) head out to Columbia Hills State Park where you can take a self-guided tour of the Tamani Peshwa Trail (whenever the park is open) and also a free guided tour of the other extensive rock art sites at the park (reservation required for the free tour, there is a small fee to enter the park).

         

CultureWatch Director to Speak This Saturday

Columbia River Plateau archaeology and Indian rock art will be subjects of a talk and slide show Saturday at the quarterly meeting of the Camas-Washougal Historical Society.

Michael W. Taylor, a Washington native and co-author of five books, will speak about cultural resources, rock art and Columbia Plateau archaeology.

His presentation will be titled "Reconnecting with Nichi-Wana: Ancient Indian Rock Art of the Lower Columbia River".

Taylor has contributed to five books and numerous professional articles and presentations. He is the principal of Culture Watch Northwest, an organization dedicated to protecting “places that matter.” He has served as both president and director of the Oregon Archaeological Society.

Taylor’s talk is set for 2 p.m. Saturday in the community room of the Camas Police Station, 2100 N.E. Third Ave. There will be time for discussion and questions after his presentation. Learn more about Culture Watch Northwest at http://culturewatchnorthwest.blogspot.com.

Information courtesy of The Columbian. Read the original article at: Historical Society Hosts Archaeology Talk

The Petroglyph Rubbings at Skamania Lodge

I was lucky enough to get to attend a Christmas party at Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, WA this weekend.

Very nice place and they have an excellent collection of petroglyph rubbings and Pacific coast Indian-inspired wood carving displayed throughout the hotel.

The rubbings are mostly of ancient images found on the Columbia River Plateau. The region is home to hundreds of petroglyphs that have been carved into the surface of the native basalt and also to many pictographs that are painted on the rock.

Some of the rubbings are especially interesting because they are of images that are now submerged in the pools behind the major dams on the Columbia.

The rubbings were done by artist Jeanne Hillis over a number of years beginning in the 1940's. Skamania Lodge developer John D. Gray (also famous for Salishan, John's Landing, etc.) acquired the entire Hillis collection in the early 1990's to provide an artistic theme for the new lodge. Well known rock art scholar Dr. James Keyser was commissioned to write a monograph on the collection titled Indian Petroglyphs of the Columbia Gorge: The Jeanne Hillis Rubbings which was published in 1994.

I hope you enjoy the images below...and appreciate that they represent an important aspect of a living culture that has existed in the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years.

In addition to the rubbings the lodge holds several major wood carvings with images inspired by Pacific coast Indian art.

All the images in this blog are viewable for free in the public areas of the lodge. It's well worth a stop if you're ever in the area.

Enjoy!

(The author received no compensation from Skamania Lodge (or anyone else) for this post.)

Petroglyph Tunnel Progresses!

The other day Suzanne Bachelder (from the City of Washougal) and I went over to Vancouver Granite Works to take a look at the large basalt rock that will stand at the entry to the Washougal Pedestrian Tunnel.

This large chunk of columnar basalt will be a commemorative stone that recognizes the Indian people of the Columbia Plateau and those who contributed to the rock art portion of the project. The boulder, standing at the northern entrance to the tunnel (see drawing for one possibility), will mark the beginning of the transition from the city to the river.


The rock is not quite complete in the photos that follow. Suzanne collected tracings of actual handprints from all the high school interns who worked on the project. When complete those real handprints will be carved into the stone. When we saw it the handprints had not yet been carved, but the concept photo (at right) will give you the idea.

Check it out!
















...and here are the interns and coordinators who are helping make the concept into a reality!

Buffalo Bill's Defunct

Mystery, intrigue, petroglyphs, the Columbia River Gorge...what else could anyone interested in archaeology and fiction ask for?

Just check out the cover...stylized Pacific Northwest rock art galore.

Vancouver, WA author Sheila Simonson has blended local cultures and geography with some great characters in a book that I really enjoyed.

Simonson rearranges counties, towns, and cultures to produce a credible facsimile called "LaTouche County" which seems to include a good chunk of the western Gorge. She creates a pseudo Chinookan tribe called the "Klalo" and names the county seat after them. Tribal members, including the female chief, have key roles in the story.

Stolen artifacts, murder, clashing cultures, interesting characters and familiar places combine for an engaging read. You can learn more about the author and her books at her website. The book is available at Amazon and Powells.com (for well under $15) and, I assume, at local bookstores.

Might make a great Christmas gift!

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Cupules on the Columbia

Upriver of Vancouver, Washington the Columbia River bank is edged with thousands of rounded basalt boulders.

Ripped from the up-river bedrock thousands of years ago by massive ice-age floods these rocks, once part of the volcanic landscape, were shaped as they rolled downstream in massive torrents of water.

Over a hundred floods, that for a time carried more water than all the other rivers on earth combined, gouged the earth to form what is now called the Columbia River Gorge. The boulders are all that remain of over 50 cubic miles of dirt and rock that were violently flushed into the Pacific.

Rounded boulders shaped by the Missoula Floods.

In the Vancouver area alone, over a hundred of these boulders hold ancient Indian rock art. The most common marks left by the prehistoric people are cupules...thousands and thousands of cupules.

Some individual rocks hold several hundred of these distinctive marks...small (1"-4" across) cup-shaped indentations in the rock that are formed by pounding a hand-held "hammer stone" repetitively against the surface of the boulder.

Why make a cupule? Why do some rocks hold only a single cupule but others have hundreds of these mysterious dimples?

Theories abound...but two seem to hold the most promise.

One, the "Baby Rock" theory holds that ancient women sought the rock powder that was produced as the cupule was formed. The powder was believed to hold spiritual power that, when eaten or rubbed on the body, would help a woman become pregnant. There is significant evidence from similar sites in Northern California to support this idea.

But was it the same along the Columbia?

A second theory proposes that the cupules were formed by Salmon shaman. These shamans were important spiritual leaders whose role it was to call the schools of Salmon back from the ocean every year so that the people could eat, live, and prosper. The Salmon were thought to hear the shaman pounding on the rock and return to where they could be caught to nourish the tribe.

In either case, the point was not the cupule itself...cupules were simply by-products of another important activity.

Both ideas are intriguing...but do they reflect reality? Trying to look into the minds of ancient people is fascinating. Physical evidence can be studied, ethnography can be mined, present day descendants can be interviewed and, of course, opinions abound...but to a significant extent the mystery remains...who were the ancient people of the Columbia, what were their beliefs, and what are the true meanings of the art and the symbols they left behind?

Of course, partial answers can be found to all of these questions, but the true richness of a prehistoric culture can never be fully experienced...and that's a big part of what makes it so appealing.

Temanawas Rock overlooks the Columbia River near Vancouver, WA

As interesting as they are, cupules aren't the only rock art along the lower Columbia River. Stay tuned and we'll continue to explore!

Kennewick Man II: Anthropologist Argues That Corps of Engineers Acted Properly

In a Seattle Times opinion piece Dr. James Nason, a retired University of Washington anthropology professor and emeritus curator at the Burke Museum (where the original Kennewick Man is kept), argues that the Corps of Engineers is properly handling the recently found remains.

There are some very interesting comments at the end of the article.

Check it out at: Corps Acted Properly

(Rock art pictured is near Kennewick, WA).

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Kennewick Man II Debate Continues

Two bits of recent news on the newly discovered Kennewick Man II bones...

From the Tri-City Herald, Sept. 15, 2009

Anthropologist to study jawbone found in river

The Army Corps of Engineers plans to hire an independent anthropologist to study a jawbone found in the Columbia River in August, said Corps spokesman Joseph Saxon.

The lower jawbone with two teeth was turned over to the Army Corps because it was found on the agency's land in an undisclosed location on the river. The 9,300-year-old bones of Kennewick Man also were found on the Columbia River...

Read the whole story at: Tri-City Herald: Sept. 15, 2009


From the Seattle Times, Sept. 15, 2009

Did U.S. Corps of Engineers learn nothing from Kennewick Man?

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers apparently didn't learn much from the experience of the Kennewick Man case, these guest columnists write. The initial Corps decision to turn a jawbone found on the shores of the Columbia over to tribes without establishing a definitive connection is misguided.

By Alan Schneider and Cleone Hawkinson

GOVERNMENT agencies are often slow learners. A case in point is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' process for protecting human skeletal remains found on Corps-managed federal land.

Recently a partial human jawbone and two teeth were recovered from the Columbia River not far from where the 9,400-year-old Kennewick Man skeleton was found in 1996. Based solely upon visual inspection of these remains, the Army Corps declared them to be Native American, which puts them on a fast track for transfer to local tribes...

Read the whole story at: Seattle Times: Sept. 15, 2009

Ancient Images: Deschutes River Rock Art Video

The view from this small Oregon rock shelter is gorgeous...coupled with its spiritual energy it must have inspired hundreds of generations of visitors as they sought its power.










Located above the fast flowing Deschutes River (a tributary of the Columbia) in central Oregon, the shallow cave is filled with rock art, mostly red or white pictographs.















Both vision quest and shamanistic images are found in the shelter.

Polished smooth by millennia of use, a large flat rock surface in the center of the shelter provides a perfect spot to sit or lay as you seek interaction with spirit helpers or mysterious forces.

You can share a little of this ancient experience in the video below. (Remember to turn on your sound, click the "full-screen" option for a larger view of the video. The photos in this post can also be enlarged by clicking on them).


(Please be aware that YouTube will show you several "recommended videos" at the bottom of the screen when Ancient Images is over. Some of these are interesting, others may be completely inappropriate. Sadly I have no influence or control over what YouTube chooses to promote at the end of my video. Viewer beware.).

Please remember to preserve and protect unique and irreplaceable cultural treasures like this small rock shelter. It is still sacred to the people who used it...and continue to use it even now.

This rock art has been here for hundreds, if not thousands, of years...with your help it can still be here thousands of years from now.

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Rock Art Site Etiquette

Visiting a rock art site can be a great experience!

If you're privileged to go to a site here are some guidelines that will help you protect the site while you enjoy it.

• Treat the site and the rock art with the same respect you would give a religious or sacred place…that’s what it is.

• Don’t touch the images. The oils from your skin will damage them over time and the abrasion of your fingers can actually remove images from the rock.

• Don’t remove anything from the site. That cigarette at the foot of the cliff may not be litter but a tobacco offering; that dollar bill was not “lost”…they may have been left by modern Indians to honor the spiritual power of the rock art (of course if you're sure its litter, take it out with you).

• If there is a trail stay on it. If there is not a trail try not to make one.

• Don’t trespass on private property.

• Don’t share the location of non-public sites with others.

• Don’t make “rubbings” or “contact prints”. This very often causes irreparable harm.

• Do take photographs or make sketches of the images and feel free to show them to your friends and family.

• Final Note: Have a good time, be safe, and act responsibly. Take time to enjoy the setting, the culture, the fresh air… and remember, its about appreciating, respecting, and preserving prehistoric rock art that is sacred to the people who made it.

The rock art has been there for thousands of years… with your help it can still be there a thousand years from now.

(The images above are from rock art sites along the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon).

Creativity Unleashed!

The Washougal pedestrian tunnel itself is completely engineered and construction is well underway...but what about the Columbia Plateau rock-art-inspired panels that are a major part of its creative design?

Well, I'm here to tell you that the creative energy of the Petroglyph Team's student interns was released BIG-TIME at our most recent meeting.

Each of the Washougal High students on the Team had been chartered by artist Rex Ziak with creating a personal vision of the rock art that would fill the tunnel.

Students Emily Carroll, Kirstin Peterson, Patrick McCarthy, Sarah Walker, Chloe Kilgore, Brian Price, Paige Wade, Chris Norton, and Heather Mattole each prepared a detailed creative plan for the 7 basalt slabs that will line one wall of the tunnel.

I'm not sure what I expected when the assignment was given out...but whatever it was, reality significantly exceeded any expectations I might have dreamed about! You would think that in a group of 9 busy high school students there would be a few creative duds...you would be wrong!

Designs (above and below) laid out for review...

These kids, none trained in art as far as I know, each came up with an innovative, creative artistic plan for the tunnel. Honestly I think all the adults in the room, including Rex, were amazed. The deep thought and artistic concepts were inspiring.




Emily Carroll, Brian Price, and Kirsten Walker (above) present their designs.

Patrick McCarthy commands the attention of the audience, including artist Rex Ziak (center left), as he presents his vision for the tunnel's rock art.




Paige Wade, Chris Norton, and Chloe Kilgore explain their designs.

Heather Mattole (left and center below) captures the imaginations of Team members Patrick McCarthy, Paige Wade, Chloe Kilgore, Rix Ziak and Robert David (left to right).







Now the focal point of the artistic process moves to Rex Ziak. He will consider the ideas of the students along with his own creative thoughts and begin to finalize the images that will make this tunnel anything but pedestrian.

Stay tuned...


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