Ancient Petroglyphs in the Fremont River Valley

This is the eleventh in a series of posts about my visit through parts of Arizona and Utah.
​(Click words that are bolded for more information.)

Utah's Scenic Byway 12 northern junction ends at Scenic Byway 24, which runs through Capitol Reef National Park. We stopped to enjoy a picnic lunch in a peaceful valley beside the Fremont River in the historic district of Fruita.  Settled in 1879, this small self-sufficient Mormon community was home to just ten families who planted crops and orchards of fruit trees. They lived quietly in the sheltered valley until 1959 when Fruita was merged into Capitol Reef National Park. In the spring, visitors can still pick ripe fruit from Fruita orchards.

Soaring red cliffs surround the peaceful valley of Fruita

Oh, that blue, blue sky! Those fantastic rocks!

Here and there, the grassy picnic area was shaded by towering cottonwood trees with gnarled, twisted bark. One of these massive trees was known as the "Mail Tree," for under its branches mail was collected for the community. With a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet, Fremont cottonwood trees grow up to 90 feet tall and can live for 150 years. They grow near streams and rivers.

Could this cottonwood have been the "Mail Tree?"

Wrinkled bark of a cottonwood tree

Long before the community of Fruita was settled, this lovely valley was home to a native people group now known as the Fremont. Like the Ancestral Puebloans, the Fremont lived in pit houses, hunted, and farmed. They made distinctive tightly woven baskets and wore leather moccasins, unlike the Ancestral Puebloans who wore sandals made from yucca fiber. The Fremont culture disappeared after 1300 AD, but numerous small clay figurines and rock art remain. Several panels of petroglyphs are carved into the sheer rock face in the Fremont river valley.

Fremont Petroglyphs

​Petroglyphs are images that are carved or pecked into a rock surface, whereas pictographs are painted. The Fremont petroglyphs depict a variety of human-like figures, animals, abstract designs and geometric shapes. The human-like figures are ornately decorated.

A flock of bighorn sheep are spread across this panel

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These sheep are etched into the dark rock varnish

I spy a sheep, a dog, and a bear

Look closely to see these ones. I spy a rabbit. (upper right)

There are dozens of petroglyphs on these rock panels. Some are easier to see than others, but the more I looked, the more I saw. I could imagine Fremont mothers and fathers playing a game of I Spy with their children as they gazed at the pictures etched in stone that decorated their river valley home.

Some have left their own imprint on this bridge over the Fremont River .

Even today many are compelled to leave their own imprints. From a little child's crayon scribble on her bedroom wall, to lovers' initials carved into a tree trunk, to colorful spray-painted graffiti on the side of an inner city building, people through the ages have left their mark. Hopefully these petroglyph panels and other ancient markings will remain unmarred so that visitors can see them and wonder about the people who made them.

"The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him." Lamentations 3:25

The next stop on our tour through Utah would take us to a dusty valley with fantastic rock sculptures that were carved by the mighty hand of One Who uses the forces of nature to leave His mark on His world, so that people can gaze and wonder, and perhaps seek to know Him.

~Debbie

First stop - Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden here.
Second stop - Montezuma's Castle here.
Third stop - Sedona here.
Fourth stop - The Grand Canyon here.
Fifth stop - The Desert Watch Tower here.
Sixth stop - Glen Canyon and Lake Powell here.
Seventh stop - Zion National Park here.
Eighth stop - Between canyons here. 
Ninth stop - Bryce Canyon here.
Tenth stop - Utah's Scenic Byway 12 here.