Monument Valley

Monument Valley has always been on my mind since I was a kid.  If you have watched an old western movie or two, it was part of the scenery.  It is a place I had to visit while I was on this earth. 

John Ford, the famous movie director, shot dozens of moving pictures here.  The most famous being the John Wayne epic, The Searchers.  It is an incredible location with tall Red Sandstone Buttes that the Navajo call The Valley of the Rocks. This was a must-stop on our trip to California.  We are about a month into the trip.  We are camped in the Navajo Nation at Canyon De Chelly, about 100 miles away from the Valley.  So we're off on an adventure.  We drive through siltstone valleys that the buttes sit on.  It's a desert landscape where the views go on forever.  

Monument Valley is a Navajo National Park.  There is a $10 entrance fee to drive the 17-mile dirt road that winds through the buttes.  The most famous being the West, East Mitten, and Merrick Butte.  Those three buttes form that famous picture of the Valley. 

It seems surreal that we are finally here.  Our first stop is John Ford's Point.  It's a famous scene where John Wayne looks over the Valley searching for his niece, who has been kidnapped by an Indian raiding party.  It's a moving portrait of the Wild West. 

While driving the 17-mile loop, it was a full-on adventure.  The road was crowded with tourists from around the world.  They were on a road that required 4-wheel drive.  The tourist with their low-clearance rental cars were all over the place.   We still had fun driving around the slow-moving traffic. 

After touring Monument Valley, we started our trek back to our camp at Canyon De Chelly.  We stop in Kayenta at the Amigo Cafe.  It was good to get my Fried Bread Taco, which filled up a whole dinner plate.  After a great, long day, we are back at camp with visions of Monument Valley in our dreams.

Canyon De Chelly and the Navajo Nation

We spent a week exploring the Navajo Nation.  We camped at Canyon De Chelly in the National Monument Campground.  The National Monument Visitor Center and Campground are located at the mouth of the Canyon.  It was an eye-opening experience.   The Canyon itself is a natural wonder with high escarpments and a cottonwood tree-dotted floor, but this isn't the complete story.  

The Navajo still live in the Canyon, passing the land on from generation to generation through the maternal side of the family.  Yes, the Navajo women are the caretakers of the Canyon and the greater Navajo Nation.  

The Canyon is a geographical marvel comprised of 83,840 acres (131 sq mi; 339 km2) that includes the floors and rims of the three major canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument.  These canyons were created by streams from the Chuska Mountains.   It has been continuously occupied since  Ancestral Puebloan times.

Originally from 1300 to the early 1700s, the Canyon was occupied by the Hopi Indians.   Their presence can still be felt throughout the Canyon by the various cliff dwellings that remain.  The only way to visit the Canyon floor is through a Navajo-guided tour.   This tour was one of the major highlights of our 80-day trip out West.  In addition to seeing the beauty of the Canyon, we learned of the history and the battles that were fought there.  It is a story of tragedy and rebirth. 

Kit Carson of Frontier Fame was ordered during the Civil War to round up the Navajo because there was a perception that they were aiding the Confederate cause.  At Canyon De Chelly, over 3000 Navajo were rounded up by the US Army after a scorched earth campaign, then a siege of Spider Rock.    They were then forced to walk 130 miles to a reservation in New Mexico, which came to be known as the Long Walk.    After the Civil War, around 1000 returned to the Navajo Nation created by treaty. 

One Navajo elder said of the Long Walk: "By slow stages, we traveled eastward to present Gallup and Shush Bìtó, Bear Spring, which is now called Fort Wingate.  You ask how they treated us?  If there was room, the soldiers put the women and children on the wagons.  Some even let them ride behind them on their horses.  I have never been able to understand people who killed you one day and on the next played with your children ...[9]"

Today, from the 1000 who returned, the Navajo Nation has grown to over 200k souls.  The largest Indian Nation in North America includes over 17000 square miles with major parts of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico within its borders.  Larger than 10 states, it is a cultural treasure.  

Standing in line at a Tour Office, two Navajo men were talking to each other in their native tongue.  In English, in a joking manner, if you're wondering what we're talking about, it's you.   I just said I have been talked about by worse people.  We then had a good laugh and went on our tour to the canyon floor with them.  It was a magical experience.

The Great Basin National Park's Lost Winchester 1873

One of the coolest things we saw on our 80-day trip to California and back.  On this trip, we visited 32 National Parks and Monuments.  The drive across Nevada had unexpected beauty.  Along Highway 50, nicknamed the loneliest road in America, sits the Great Basin National Park, which is full of surprises. 

The Great Basin of the Western United States encompasses most of Nevada, as well as large portions of Oregon, Utah, and California.  The National Park is an Island of tree-covered mountains in the middle of a desert landscape.  

"In the Park, an archaeologist discovered a Winchester Model 1873 rifle leaning against a juniper tree in 2014.  The gun, manufactured in 1882, was found in a remote area during a habitat restoration project.  It was left in place for research and preservation, and its discovery has become a popular story, even going viral on social media. 

The rifle, a Winchester Model 1873, is a lever-action centerfire rifle chambered in .44-40 caliber.  It has a 24-inch octagonal barrel and a magazine that holds up to 12 cartridges.  The gun was found with a round of ammunition dating from 1887 to 1911, suggesting it had been there for many years.  It was later x-rayed, revealing a live cartridge in the buttstock. 

The rifle's backstory remains a mystery, contributing to its allure.  The area where it was found was known for hunting, prospecting, and sheep herding.  While the exact reason for its abandonment is unknown, it has become a symbol of the American West and its history.  The rifle is now on display at the park's visitor center.  "

I was very impressed with the drive through Nevada on Highway 50. Nicknamed the loneliest road in the nation, it was filled with big vistas that contained mountains in a desert landscape.  We didn't spend much time Great Basin National Park, but it was a great stop that proved to be very informative.  Plus, we got to see the Winchester 1873.