From Wikipedia: "El Morro National Monument is located on an ancient east-west trail in western New Mexico. The main feature of this National Monument is a great sandstone promontory with a pool of water at its base. As a shaded oasis in the western U.S. desert, this site has seen many centuries of travelers. The Spaniard explorers called it El Morro (The Headland). The Zuni Indians call it 'A'ts'ina' (Place of writings on the rock). Anglo-Americans called it Inscription Rock. Travelers left signatures, names, dates, and stories of their treks. While some of the inscriptions are fading, there are still many that can be seen today, some dating to the 17th century. Some petroglyphs and carvings were made by the Anasazi centuries before Europeans started making their mark. In 1906, U.S. federal law prohibited further carving."
The first English inscription at El Morro, carved into the rock by Lt. J. H. Simpson and R. H. Kern in 1849, has a spelling error: "inscriptions" was spelled "insciptions" with the "r" inserted afterwards.
The water that attracted all the travelers.
6 comments:
I think we've lost the art of inscription.
Okay, I'm just catching up with you this morning and I've spent five minutes pouring through this first post alone. This is SO cool for me to be able to see "over your shoulder" like this. It is so fascinating. Can you believe the carving skills and penmanship of some of those folks?! Really cool post.
So my contract at work will not be renewed in the fall. I have a job interview next week, so we will see what happens there. But, I am taking definite inspiration in your travels and may, just may take off for some adventure myself between now and the end of the year. It looks like you guys have been having a really great time. Now, back to more reading your adventures!
-Kim
El Morro was lovely. If we ever go there again, we'll camp and get up in the morning to see the good light. You did a great job with these photos.
Cele: I agree! Some of these inscriptions were beautiful. They must have taken the author quite a bit of time!
Kim: Thanks for stopping by and reading/viewing my "travelogue!" I've had a hard time editing as you can see...
I'm sorry to hear about your contract. I'm considering freelancing myself rather than trying to get another "job." Maybe we can chat sometime about how you got started. I'm in the learning phase right now!
I would definitely recommend going on a trip like this! You can't take this much time while working, so you have to do it between jobs! It took us 4 weeks to drive across the States, but I was gone for 6 weeks since I stayed in the D.C. area with Janet for two weeks before we left.
Janet: I definitely think we should camp to get the good light in the morning. And, we can then do the entire loop trail and maybe see some more petroglyphs!
What an interesting place!
Linda: It is! Next time you head to the SW, you should check it out!
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