There is abundant evidence that the canyon lands were inhabited by cliff
dwellers centuries before the explorations of Powell or the earlier
visits of the Spanish explorers and the fur trappers. Projectile points
and other artifacts found in the nearby La Sal and Abajo Mountains
indicate occupation by aborigines from about 3,000-2,000 B.C. to about 1
A.D. (Hunt, 1956).
Archeologists have found evidence of two occupations by prehistoric
peoples in and near Canyonlands National Park—the Fremont people around
850 or 900 A.D. and the Pueblo or Anasazi people from about 1075 to
their departure in the late 12th century (Jennings, 1970). Within the
park, the most densely populated area was along Salt Canyon and its
tributaries in the Needles district, but many prehistoric dwellings and
granaries are also found just south of the park in Beef Basin and Ruin
Park.
The Fremont people, who were mainly hunters, seemingly left no
artifacts, but they did leave beautiful pictographs, or rock paintings,
such as the group of ghostly human figures on the sandstone wall of
Horseshoe Canyon (fig. 2), in the detached unit northwest of the park
proper (fig. 1). The All American Man (fig. 3), a most unusual “Humpty
Dumpty” figure painted in red, white, and blue on the wall of a cave
about 3⅓ miles above the cable across the east fork of Salt Canyon, is
believed to have been done in the Fremont style, but as shown in the
photograph, it is next to one of three dwellings in the same cave that
were built later by the Anasazi people. Tower Ruin (fig. 4) is one of
many well-preserved granaries built by the Anasazi, who farmed the flood
plains of creeks such as Salt and Horse Canyons. According to Jennings
(1970),
There is some evidence that these early Utah people practiced a form
of irrigation, using shallow ditches to carry water to their crops.
There is also evidence that a change in climate sometime around the
late 12th century brought about summer flash flooding and induced the
cliff dwellers to abandon their Canyonlands homes and farms.
[Illustration: PICTOGRAPHS ON WALL OF HORSESHOE CANYON, believed to
have been made by Fremont people about 1,000 years ago. Numbered
chalkmarks 1 foot apart along bottom were made by some previous
photographer. Photograph by Walter Meayers Edwards, © 1971 National
Geographic Society. (Fig. 2)]
[Illustration: THE ALL AMERICAN MAN, on wall of cave in Cedar Mesa
Sandstone Member of Cutler Formation along upper Salt Canyon,
believed to have been painted by Fremont people. Granary on right
was built by Anasazi people. Chalk outline was added by some
previous photographer. Photograph by National Park Service. (Fig.
3)]
[Illustration: TOWER RUIN, an Anasazi granary in cave in Cedar Mesa
Sandstone Member along tributary of Horse Canyon. (Fig. 4)]
Visitors to the Needles district pass through Indian Creek State Park 12
miles west of U.S. Highway 163. The principal attraction, which is
visible at the base of the Wingate Sandstone cliff on the right (north),
is Newspaper Rock (fig. 5), one of the best preserved and most
intriguing petroglyphs, or rock inscriptions, in the canyon lands. Many
of the older cliff faces of the Wingate and Navajo Sandstones are
darkened or blackened by desert varnish, a natural pigment of iron and
manganese oxides. The prehistoric inhabitants of the canyon country
learned that effective and enduring designs could be created simply by
chiseling through the thin dark layer to reveal the buff or tan
sandstone beneath. According to Jesse D. Jennings (letter of Mar. 20,
1962, to Utah Div. Parks and Recreation),
There are at least three periods of workmanship visible on the rock.
The last is quite recent since it shows men mounted on horses [brought
in by Spanish explorers]. These are probably less than 200 years old
and are probably the work of Ute tribesmen. The others cannot be
identified with any specific cultural group, although the earliest may
be as much as one thousand years old and are probably the work of the
so-called “Fremont” peoples * * *
In addition to the designs by the Fremont, Anasazi, and Ute artists, you
will note a few names and dates as late as 1954.
[Illustration: Petroglyph]
[Illustration: NEWSPAPER ROCK, petroglyphs cut in Wingate Sandstone
cliff in Indian Creek State Park. Inscriptions probably span about
1,000 years and include figures by Fremont, Anasazi, and Ute people
(mounted horsemen) and by a few early white settlers. (Fig. 5)]