Tag Archives: Grand Canyon

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Ancient Grand Canyon Rock Art Links Us to the Past

Cohonina rock art, Grand Canyon. (Copyright 2010 Osha Gray Davidson)

 

Finding ancient pictograms (or rock art) is one of the many joys of hiking in the American Southwest. These paintings or figures and shapes carved into rock were made by the ancestors of today’s indigenous peoples: Hopi, Havasupai, or others. Even for those of us whose ancestors immigrated to the United States since 1492 (or who were brought as slaves), these images help us connect to the people and the land where we now live. As Americans, we are surely their spiritual, if not biological, descendents.

Rock art detail.

I took the picture above while hiking in the Grand Canyon in 2010. I can’t be more specific about its location — pictograms are frequently targeted by “collectors” (read: plunderers). Wanting to learn more about the people who made these pictograms, I searched several online databases without any luck. Eventually, I contacted Ellen Brennan, Cultural Resources Program Manager at Grand Canyon National Park. From the photo above, she was able to identify both the people who likely created the rock art, and provide an estimate of when it was made.

Here’s Ms. Brennan’s reply to my questions:

The rock art you photographed has been attributed to the Cohonina people who were one of the early cultural groups in the Grand Canyon (and other localities in the Flagstaff region). The archaeologists who recorded this site estimated its age between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1150, though much of our research suggests that Cohonina archaeological materials are not found in the Canyon after A.D. 1050. This suggests that they either left the area or intermarried into larger groups of people (possibly the Kayenta Ancestral Puebloan people) and took on the traits of their adopted society.

Just who the Cohonina were as a cultural group is still somewhat of an unanswered question. As you may know, archaeologists classify prehistoric cultures by examining a series of traits, such as how people built their homes, how they made pottery, the ways in which they “made their living” (hunting and gathering, agriculture, some combination of those two traits), how they buried their dead.

Rock art detail.

We believe the Cohonina made a particular kind of pottery, San Francisco Mountain Gray Ware, but they show variations in the ways they built their homes and the way they made their living. Much more research is needed to understand who these people were in a scientific sense. Some archaeologists believe they are ancestors of modern pueblo people (Hopi), while others do not. You can find a little information on the web, but be careful of some of the sites. There is one that states the Cohonina have been around for 8,000 years. The archaeological evidence does not support that. I refer you to the works of Dr. Alan Sullivan of the University of Cincinnati for his research into this culture.

If you find ancient rock art, please don’t touch it (the oil from our skin can dissolve the paint). Just be grateful for your good luck and enjoy its beauty.

The image from the Grand Canyon can be purchased at the Art for Conservation online gallery. (Ten percent of profits goes to support the work of the Grand Canyon Trust.)

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Garnett Beckman, Grand Canyon Trekker, Dies at Age 103

Garnett Beckman at "Home" in 1996 (Photo by Suzanne Starr)

My family makes our annual pilgrimage to the Grand Canyon today. We’ll meet a group of friends and early Saturday morning begin one of the most magnificent hikes in the world — down South Kaibab trail to the Colorado River at the bottom of the Canyon. Sunday, we’ll hike back up, this time on the longer, but more gradual, Bright Angel trail.

Our crew lost our leader exactly one week ago. It’s been a few years since Garnett Beckman had actually accompanied the group she founded more than two decades ago. Garnett chose other, only slightly less demanding treks when she was in her 90s. She remained the spiritual center of the group, however, although she would have scoffed at that designation. She died in Phoenix last Friday at the age of 103.

There’s a fine write-up about Garnett in the local paper, with a picture by photographer Suzanne Starr (a member of the group and a dear friend who invited us to join the trek when we moved here in 2002.)

Like all great hikes, the Canyon can unpredictable. Especially at this time of year. The weather can be comfortable at the bottom while sleet pelts would-be hikers a mile up on the rim. Or it can be bitter cold at both places. You never know.

Some things are certain, though. There will be spectacular views along the way, for example. And aching muscles at the end. At some point, the dried apricots in my pack will be transformed into the most delicious food ever tasted by a primate. And the toast we drink to Garnett Saturday night by the rushing waters of the Colorado River will be heartfelt and sincere — but inadequate, nevertheless, to the debt we owe her.

Garnett's Bench on Piestewa Peak, Summit Trail (Photo by Osha Gray Davidson)

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The Grand Canyon| Solar power in the National Parks

Grand Canyon Visitor Center

Grand Canyon Visitor Center (NPS photo by Michael Quinn)

The time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil and the gas are exhausted. The minerals do not and can not renew themselves. Therefore, in dealing with the coal, the oil, the gas, the iron, the metals generally, all that we can do is to try to see that they are wisely used.

President Theodore Roosevelt

Today, the National Park Service (NPS) dedicates the largest solar installation inside Grand Canyon National Park. A total of 84 photovoltaic solar panels at the Park’s South Rim Visitor Center will produce 18 kW of electricity — replacing 30% of the Center’s current usage.

The installation is a collaborative effort between the NPS and the region’s primary utility, Arizona Public Service (APS).

“This partnership between APS and the Grand Canyon National Park,” said Barbara Lockwood, manager of renewable energy at APS, “has provided the state with an opportunity to educate, inspire and step forward as a true leader in renewable energy.”

1908 TR declares the Grand Canyon a National Monument

An exhibit inside the Visitor Center will allow the Park’s 4.5 million annual visitors to learn how solar panels produce electricity, and about the vast potential for harnessing the sun’s energy in Arizona and elsewhere. A computer monitor will provide real-time information on how much electricity the panels are generating at any given time.

According to Park Superintendent Steve Martin, “This photovoltaic system will not only create a more sustainable future for Grand Canyon National Park, but will allow APS and the National Park Service to share with park visitors the vision of a more sustainable future for all of us.”

The NPS has used solar power at the Grand Canyon for years, but never for a project of this scale.

Many other National Parks, Monuments, Forests and Recreational Areas use solar power, and even more are “going solar” in the coming months. The images below feature just a few examples of solar power being put to use, today, on public lands across the nation.

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