Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM

This was a day to remember those who lived here long before us. We encountered an agave roasting pit, many bedrock grinding mortars, various collections of rock art, an arrowhead and a granary. Starting at about mile marker five on Route Nine in the Antelope Pass area, seven hikers crossed a long expanse of Chihuahuan Desert to climb up to rocky cliffs along the Peloncillo Mountains. Below you can see six of these hikers standing at an agave roasting pit and the vast expanse of desert with the Chiricahuas in the background.

A good place to learn about the early cultures in our area is Mel Moe’s chapter, Early Peoples, in Cave Creek Canyon: Revealing the Heart of the Chiricahua Mountains. Mel was the person that first introduced our hiking group to this area in the Peloncillos. He describes the rock art and bedrock mortars as Mogollon, although this group has now been broken up into several others. Many of the artifacts in this area are thought to cover a period of time from 8000 - 1000 years ago. This was a wetter time and villages were spaced along the San Simon River; farming during some of the year but then moving into the hills to gather foods like acorns and agaves and to hunt deer and bighorn sheep.  Agave roasting pits were also used later by Apaches, up until they were forced from their lands in the late 1800s.  A huge fire was lit in the pit and once it burned down, agave hearts were thrown inside, covered with the cut leaves and left for 1 - 2 days.  The agave hearts were turned into great sweet treats, eaten then or sliced and allowed to dry for later.

Here are examples of bedrock mortar pits and an example of the rock art. These mortar holes are 10 to 14 inches deep and archaeologists speculate they were used to grind foods such as acorns rather than grass seeds.  

Most (all?) sites we visited were partially excavated, probably illegally decades ago.  Until recently it was the custom to pick up and remove any surface artifact. It's unfortunate that people remove stone tools, pottery shards and anything else from our nation's history.  These items are so important when in their original context but only a curiosity when removed. We found this arrowhead and left it where it was found.

The rock art we saw was always protected from the elements under rock overhangs like the one below. At several sites we found a combination of geometric shapes, animal figures, humanoid figures and random lines, all painted in red on back walls or ceilings.  

Going around the corner we hiked up a second steep slope to a new section of cliff and viewed the rock art there. Protected from the elements these figures are more distinct and colors brighter compared with the earlier art we saw. But some of this rock art is now under a huge boulder that broke from the adjacent cliff. We always wonder what might be found under that rock!  People who brought hiking poles were glad to have them on the crumbly, steep slopes down to the bottom of each hill we descended.  

Following faint deer trails through a cluster of giant boulders we found our way to the bedrock slope that is the route to the fifth Native American archaeology site of the day.  Hidden in a small alcove above several terraces is a partially constructed room. Supposedly the rock and adobe structure was meant to be a granary, built to store foods, safe from animals and people.  With a great view of the valley, we chose to have lunch on the "front porch.”

 

We even found a rock eating turtle!

The long walk back to the vehicles was uneventful.  We experienced beautiful desert pavement, spectacular hills all around and a warm, sunny day in mid-December. 

The hike next week will be the day after Christmas, on Friday, December 26.  Meet at 9 a.m. at the corner of Foothills and Portal Roads (Trash Corner) to head for Hummingbird Spring. It is a short walk to the spring, only about one mile. You can turn around here or continue on with our explorers group.  Several hikers expressed an interest in continuing into Fawcett Canyon to look for the bottom of the old trail that came down from the top of the McCord Trail. You can turn around at any time. Bring the usual: hat, sunscreen, water, proper layers for the weather and lunch if you are walking more than two miles.

Happy trails!

Report by Carol and Al

Photos by Carol, Eskild and Elaine