From AD 850 to 1250,
Chaco was a hub of ceremony,
trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area--unlike anything
before or since. Chaco is remarkable for its multi-storied public
buildings, ceremonial buildings, and distinctive architecture. These
structures required considerable planning, designing, organizing of labor, and
engineering to construct.
June 22, 2010 marked the centennial of Richard Wetherill's
murder at the Chaco Culture 
National
Historic Park by an angry Navajo. Richard coordinated many archeological
excavations headed by Universities and other professionals at Chaco canyon and
many other sites. Richard and his siblings were some of the first in the
Southwest to recognize the importance of Native American Ancestral Cultures.
The June 22 centennial was attended by Wetherill family members to honor Richard
and his accomplishments. They gathered at the grave site in the Wetherill
Cemetery within the Chaco Park. Jim Shaffner gave a short presentation in
honor of Richard. Family members in attendance were Marietta Eaton
great granddaughter of Richard Wetherill, Harvey Leake great grandson
Of
John Wetherill, Terry Watson great granddaughter of Richard Wetherill,
Lawanda Eaton Smith great granddaughter of Richard Wetherill, Rulon
Wetherill great grandson of
Robert Wetherill of Chester Pennsylvania,
Jim Shaffner grandson of Richard Wetherill, Richard Wetherill III grandson
of Richard Wetherill and Ralph friend of Wanda Eaton Smith not pictured
is the Raymond Reeves family and Marie Garcia Shaffner wife of Jim
Shaffner and photographer. The next day several family members visited
John Wetherill's
Ojo Alamo 1900 trading post site in the
Bisti Badlands.
Kasha-Katuwe
Tent Rocks National Monument formed from an explosive volcanic
eruption 6-7 million years ago that deposited pumice and ash which is the
basis of the tent rock formations.
Shiprock is a rock formation rising
nearly 1,800 feet above the high-desert plain on the Navajo Nation and in San
Juan County, New Mexico, about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the town
of Shiprock, which is named for the peak. Governed by the Navajo Nation, the
formation is in the Four Corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo
religion, mythology and tradition. It is located in the center of the Ancient
Pueblo People or Ancestral Puebloan civilization, a prehistoric Native American
culture of the Southwest United States often referred to as the Anasazi.
Shiprock is a point of interest for rock climbers and photographers and has been
featured in several film productions and novels. It is the most prominent
landmark in northwestern New Mexico.
Acoma Pueblo is built atop a
sheer-walled, 367-foot sandstone bluff in a valley studded with sacred,
towering monoliths. Since 1150 A.D., Acoma Pueblo has earned the reputation
as the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America. The
mesa-top settlement is known worldwide for its unique art and rich culture.
The
Los Lunas 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?
About a
half hour's drive south of Farmington, New Mexico on Rte. 371 lies the Bisti
Badlands. This is
a wilderness area of unique geological formations and a fascinating place
for photographers to visit. It is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land
and thus (fortunately) protected from mining or other forms of commercial
development. The Bisti Badlands's is a vast piece of land and along with the
nearby De-Na-Zin Wilderness presents a daunting prospect for exploration.
There are no trails or maps or facilities and one can wander for days though
this bizarre moonscape. A GPS unit is strongly suggested. Marie and I
climbed the Mesa above the badlands which proved to be a mistake. We
walked several miles east on this Mesa top among undulating smooth fractured
clay soil for several miles. I noticed small one or two foot circular
holes every hundred feet or so. I dropped a clay clod into one of
these and didn't hear it hit bottom. Further examination of these holes
revealed that they were openings above caverns that reached the valley
floor. These holes proved to be Clay bridges which could collapse
leaving one stranded and broken at the bottom of a hundred foot cavern which
connected to the valley floor.
Three ancient civilizations make up
the three Pueblos of the Salinas Valley, Abo, Gran Quivira and
Quarai.
These three pueblos have roots back as far as 7,000 years ago. In 1598 Juan
De Onate financed an expedition into New Mexico and the Salinas Valley to
establish a Spanish presence. In about 1670 due to Spanish interference ,
disease, famine and Apache raids the Pueblos were abandoned.
A collection of bird photos from around Tome, New
Mexico and game refuges near
Belen, New Mexico.
The photos in the Tome area are mostly from around my home and taken during
all four
seasons. The variety of birds on our farm is tremendous.
The farm is within a mile of the Rio Grande Bosque and the Rio Grande river
so is much more varied than you would except around a home.
