About the McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs

Fremont

Most of the rock imagery at McConkie Ranch was made by people that archaeologists call the Fremont. These people occupied the northern Colorado Plateau and eastern Great Basin from approximately A.D. 300 to 1300. They lived by farming domesticated plants, primarily corn, and by hunting and gathering a variety of wild animal and plant foods. Their technology included pottery and the bow and arrow. Along the northern edge of the Uinta Basin, where Dry Fork Canyon is located, there was a period between approximately A.D. 800 and 1100 when Fremont people lived in small settlements, each consisting of a few pithouse dwellings. The style of Fremont rock imagery found at McConkie Ranch is often located near such settlements. It is therefore likely that this rock imagery was made during the “settled” period between A.D. 800 and 1100. However, the rock imagery has not been directly dated, so we don’t know this for sure.

Other Ancient Connections

The McConkie Ranch rock imagery likely indicates interaction with people from across the American Southwest. Kokopelli, or flute player, figures occur here. These are common in rock imagery throughout the Southwest. Some of the panels at McConkie Ranch include shield figures that are similar to those found in rock imagery of the Northern Pueblos of the Southwest.

Rock imagery that predates the Fremont period may be present at McConkie Ranch, but we don’t know this for sure because rock imagery is difficult to date.

Ute

Some of the rock imagery at McConkie Ranch was made by Ute people, indigenous people who live in this region today. At one time the Ute people inhabited a vast territory covering most of what is now Utah and Colorado. They self-identified into twelve bands, including the Uinta-ats of the northern Uinta Basin. In the mid- and late nineteenth century, settlement in Ute territory by non-natives led to conflict, and Ute bands from throughout the Great Basin and western Colorado were relocated to a reservation in the Uinta Basin, now known as the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. The people of the Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation have maintained their culture and identity while adapting, along with everyone else, to the modern world. They continue to play a vital role in Utah’s society, economics, and politics.

Why Do the Panels Have Numbers Painted on Them?

The rock imagery at McConkie Ranch—along with other rock imagery in Dry Fork Canyon, Ashley Valley (where Vernal is located), and Nine Mile Canyon (located about 75 miles southwest of Vernal)—was first documented by Albert Reagan and Leo Thorne in the early 1930s. Albert Regan was at the time a schoolteacher for the Ute Tribe, and he went on to become the first professor of archaeology at Brigham Young University. Leo Thorne was a professional photographer from Vernal who was very interested in archaeology. They painted numbers on rock art panels as part of their documentation, and they also chalked over petroglyphs to make them show up better in photographs.

Although Reagan and Thorne did a lot to bring the rock imagery of northern Utah to the attention of the scientific community, and although Reagan worked to combat vandalism of archaeological sites in other ways, we recognize today that chalking and painting on rock imagery panels is highly destructive. Archaeologists no longer do this when documenting rock imagery or other archaeological resources. You can do your part by not making markings of any sort on rock imagery. And please do not try to remove any markings or graffiti made by others—this can damage rock imagery more than it helps.