Automatic Cattle Roundup
A You Tube video on a roundup of a few of his cattle. A
visit to
Sandal
House an ancient ruin in the Ute Mountain Tribal Park near Mesa Verde,
Colorado. A
video of Jim and Marie in a balloon crash into trees Kenya, Africa.
Balloon Crash
The Decalogue Stone sits below a 700 foot cliff at the base of Hidden
Mountain. Marie and I climbed up in a V shaped extremely steep wash to get
to the top. The mountain is nearly flat on top with a 360 deg view in any
direction. The boulders and cliff tops are littered with petroglyphs and
collapsed rock ruins. We hiked a full circle of the top which is about a
mile long and a half mile wide. We found a Greek inscription on a
basalt boulder and more ruins and saw a Phoenician Tanit symbol just below the
cliff face on the north side. There were between 20 and 30 abandoned ruins
which were obviously not of the Ancestral Puebloen style. I wonder
if they were of Jewish or Phoenician origin?
On a recent climb to view several of the 1800 Petroglyphs on Tome Hill I
think I saw a Phoenician
Tanit symbol. I reviewed several of my photos
taken on a recent climb and think one of them reveals a Phoenician Tanit symbol
but will have to make another climb to be absolutely certain. It's not
much of a stretch to think that the Phoenicians could have traveled from Hidden
Mountain to Tome Hill a couple of thousand years ago. This of course is
valid only if the Hidden Mountain Decalogue Stone and the Tanit symbols are not
a hoax.
About Jim Shaffner
Jim's Bio
James Wetherill Shaffner, son of Albert Sidney
Johnson and grandson
of Richard
Wetherill, early day explorer of southwestern Anasazi ruins, was born in
Tucumcari, New Mexico February 7th, 1947.
After attending public school in Tucumcari, New Mexico and graduating in
1965, he attended Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in Portales, New
Mexico for two semesters before being drafted into the US Army at Fort Bliss,
Texas and Fort Eustis, Virginia. While in the army he served a one
year tour of duty in Viet Nam and was stationed at such places as, An Khe,
Chu Lai, Danang and Hue-Phu Bai. He served with the First Air Cavalry
Division while in Viet Nam. After Vietnam he spent a number
of months at Fort Riley, Kansas before being transferred to Europe. He
spent a short time in Germany before being permanently assigned to NATO
headquarters in Mons, Belgium. While stationed in Belgium he met and
married his first wife, Christine Whitmarsh. Jim was discharged from
the army in March of 1970 at Fort Hamilton, New York and returned with his
new wife to Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). Jim and Christine
had 2 children, James Richard and Poppy Elizabeth.
While Jim was a student at the Eastern New Mexico
University he worked in
the Facilities Management Department as grounds supervisor and later worked
in the Mechanical Department. Jim graduated from ENMU with a Bachelor
of Science degree in 1974 and was employed as the Horticulturist for a
Hydroponic greenhouse vegetable growing operation in Tucumcari, New
Mexico and Fabens, Texas. Jim's next job in 1978 was as Horticulturist
for a wholesale flower production greenhouse in Tome, New Mexico.
In 1981 Jim was employed by New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT)
a small science and engineering university in Socorro, New Mexico as
Associate Director of Facilities Management and was promoted to Director in
1982 and held the position for 25 years. Jim was also an adjunct
faculty member for Eastern New Mexico University teaching Turf Grass
Management. He also taught Horticulture for the community college at NMT.
Jim's second wife Marie
Garcia Shaffner was a teacher, Principal, Director of Instruction and
Superintendent of Schools in Belen New Mexico. She retired in 2001 after 28 years of
service to the Belen School District. Marie and Jim currently live
near the Tome'
Land
Grant in Tome' New Mexico. The grant was a 400,000 acre tract of
land given to 26 residents of Tome', New Mexico by the king of Spain in
1739. Marie is a descendent of one of these families. The
provisions of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave title to 26
signatories. One of the these was Francisco Sanchez
who was the grandson of Juana Lopez de Aragon and the fifth great
grand parent of Marie Garcia Shaffner.
The Sanchez branch of
her family is documented to have been in New Mexico in 1600, near the time
of the arrival of the Juan de Onate Expedition in 1598. Madalena
Sanchez de lnigo, eighth great-grandmother of Marie Garcia Shaffner
was married September 6, 1609 in Puebla de los Angeles, New Spain and was
the mother of Fray Francisco Munoz, father of the Juana Lopez
de Aragon children. This family is considered to be one of the
twelve founding families of Albuquerque.
Shaffners in
Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon is just
outside Page, Arizona and is truly a mystical place with colors that
change every few minutes and sounds that echo off it's walls in various
volumes. It is a photographers dream.
Shaffners in
Arches National Park, Utah. Arches National Park preserves
over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, like the world-famous Delicate
Arch, as well as many other unusual rock formations. In some areas, the
forces of nature have exposed millions of years of geologic history.
The extraordinary features of the park create a landscape of contrasting
colors, landforms and textures that is unlike any other in the world.
Near Siem Reap, Cambodia are the temples of Angkor Wat and the minor
temple of Ta Prohm built in about the 12th or 13th centuries. The
temple of Ta Prohm is eerily covered with the roots of the Banyon
tree. Every roof, hallway, and the various entrances have Banyon
roots attached to carved stone blocks. It has been preserved as it
was found with the jungle taking over. Angkor Wat has been
completely restored removing the jungle exposing a magnificent
temple.
Shaffners in Colorado: This state has some of
the best preserved Ancestral Puebloan ruins in the United States.
One of these ruins was discovered by Richard
Wetherill , his brother-in-law
Charles Mason
and Acowitz, a Ute tribe member. Richard started his
lifelong works when he stumbled upon this ancient stone city while
searching for cattle near Mancos, Colorado on December18, 1888.
They saw across a canyon what Richard later called "Cliff Palace".
Richard and
Charles stopped looking for stray cattle, crossed the canyon and lowered
themselves into the ruins of the city and explored for several hours.
They agreed to separate and look for more ruins and agreed to meet back
at the place they had first seen Cliff Palace. Richard returned
that evening and reported he had found another ruin he called
Spruce Tree House.
For Richard, this was a turning point in his life. He began
exploration activities in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
Shaffners in Betatakin, Navajo National Monument, Arizona.
John Wetherill discovered Betatakin after being
told by a Navijo Tribal Member of it's where abouts. Fourteen years
earlier in 1895 Richard Wetherill discovered Kiet Seel. Both
these ruins are near Kayenta, Arizona. Richard, his brother, Al
Wetherill and Charles Mason were exploring Tsegi Canyon when they
stopped to camp for the evening. Richards mule broke it's hobble
during the night. The next Morning while searching for the mule
Richard turned into the area where the ruin
Keet Seel came into
view.
Video of Keet Seel
Shaffners in
Machu Picchu Peru. Machu Picchu is a city located high in the
Andes Mountains in modern Peru. It lies 43 miles northwest of Cuzco at
the top of a ridge, hiding it from the
Urabamba gorge below.
Most of the structures are built of granite blocks cut with bronze or
stone tools, and smoothed with sand. The blocks fit together perfectly
without mortar, although none of the blocks are the same size and have
many faces; some have as many as 30 corners. The joints are so tight
that even the thinnest of knife blades
Shaffners in
Playas, New Mexico-Terror Town. When New Mexico Tech, a state
supported university purchased the town of Playas, New
Mexico, Jim was Director of Facilities at the university. Jim and
his team were selected to examine the facilities and set up the
management for the small town of 259 homes which included a medical
facility, bank, parks, churches and other infrastructure typically found
in a small town. The team included most of the management from the
university facilities department.
