Pryor mountains | Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

Mystery of the Sacred

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Leslie

I’d been wanting to see a series of pictographs in the desert nearby. So the other day my friend took me out to see them. The hike is about 6 miles round trip. The trip out there is through flat sagebrush country. For a long ways it doesn’t seem like there’s anything of interest. Then suddenly the landscape shifts into deep ravines and rocky cliffs. Near the top of a series of cliffs, a narrow valley appears. Walking through this rift in the rocky scape, there is a palpable sense of the Sacred. The cliffs loom high and they all have excellent writing surfaces on them. But most are empty. Curiously, there are natural perfect circles of a different kind of rock decorating the sandstone faces. These natural shield shapes fool you into thinking they’re manmade.

A few official signs along the way tell you these pictographs you’re approaching are special and not to be touched or defaced. My friend says 7 years ago there was no trail nor signs. Since then people seemed to have discovered this place because the trail is worn and shows fresh signs of footprints and horseprints.

View from the valley

The sandstone cliffs

The valley is so quiet. There is a somber aura here that evokes the sacred. The high cliffs have a cathedral-like feel. Finally we arrive at the rock with the pictographs. My friend tells me they are fairly recent, within the last 500 years. The rock faces east and is in the shade, which is a relief on this unusual 70 degree March day. The paintings are very faint but you can make them out.

Look closely to see the figures

An area in the rock is chipped where the people who made these got the red coloring.

Where the red color comes from. Maybe why they chose this rock to paint

Down below, in another rocky outcropping, are a few more well preserved shields that lack the figures associated with the ones higher up.

Another painted rock much less eroded

These pictographs are sacred to the Crows.

Why are they here? Curiously, there is no water nearby and the paintings are in a place that is isolated and hard to get to. Although we can never get into the minds of the tribesmen who painted these, its fun to imagine what might have been going on there. Were there several artists or just one? Was this part of a vision quest or someone passing time in the shaded side of the valley waiting for game, or fellow travelers? Was this a signpost or message on a well traveled trail? I suppose it will forever remain a mystery.

Filed under: Crow Indians, Pryor mountains | Tagged: Native American Culture, petroglyphs, Pictographs, Pryors, Wyoming | 1 Comment »

Tipi Rings

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Leslie

I thought I’d do a short post on a few teepee rings I’ve seen. The other day I was in Cody with some time to kill. I’d heard there were tipi rings on the north side of the Shoshone river by Trail Creek. A friend told me the historical wisdom-lore was that many tribes gathered there during the winter months to camp by the hot springs. Most of those springs are now either extinct, buried under the damn, or on private lands. In fact, the bulk of the rings, apparently 100’s of them, are on private lands going up the traditional passage of Trail Creek.

Walking along the shores of the Shoshone River (called the Stinking Water River before it was changed due to popular [and probably economic] demand) you can still occasionally smell sulfur . The rings are obvious, easy to pick out. They’re incredibly close together; some even still have fire rings in the center. Compared to the rings in other places, these looked fairly recent, maybe 150 years old. Why? Because the rocks are not very buried.

Cody tipi ring with fire ring in middle

Another view of several rings outside Cody

This is an excerpt from Plain Feather about the death of Crow Chief Sits in the Middle of the Land while Plain Feather was camped outside of Cody:

“About a year after the big battle on the Little Bighorn (1876), a small band of Crows went hunting from the Yellowstone to the Stinking River…The band reached the Stinking River a short distance below where the city of Cody now is located. Here Chief Sits in the Middle announced that he was going south to a valley where there were still some buffalo left. The other group decided to follow up the Stinking River to the big mountains where there were plenty of deer and bighorn sheep.

My family was with this latter group. That evening we made camp at the forks of the river just above the narrow canyon where a dam is now located. Towards evening we sighted two horseback riders galloping in our direction. They were messengers from the other group. They announced that the great chief and his wife suddenly became ill and soon died. They said we were to hasten over there. It is believed that they died of pneumonia.

Immediately teepees came down and we were soon on our way. We arrived early the next morning, just in time for the burial. The bodies, strapped in robes, were taken to the rimrocks of the valley and put into a ledge and then covered up with slabs of rocks. The burial mourning followed, with men and women wailing. They recounted the many great things that the chief did for his people for many years. At that time he was the Chief of All Chiefs, reigning over the two main bands of the Crow Nation.”**

(**Note: In the late 1960’s, the Chiefs’ remains were relocated from nearby Meeteetsie to the Crow Agency in Montana.)

Now compare those rocks with the rocks in the rings below. These rings were along the Bighorn River in Bighorn Canyon. The rings are right beside the main road, which follows the ancient travel route of the Crows.

Another view along Bighorn canyon

Big Horn Canyon rings

Here are some much older rings near the town of Clark.

Clarks fork tipi rings, much older

I spent a few hours walking along the plateau near the mouth of the Clark’s Fork Canyon, an area where tribes traveled for the fall Buffalo hunt. There are rocks galore there, and although I could pick out some rings, they couldn’t be photographed as they were very obscure and some of it might have even been my vivid imagination. Most of the rings seemed much smaller, probably no more than 6′ in diameter compared to these larger rings. But the setting was right–on the table above the river with a wide view of the surroundings.

I love finding these rings. They spur my imagination and kindle a sleeping spirit. The very soil emits stories I’m awaiting to hear.

Filed under: Indigenous cultures, Pryor mountains | Tagged: Chief Sits in the Middle of the Land, Clarks Fork, Cody, Crow Nation, Native American Culture, Pryor mountains, Teepee rings, Tipi rings | 4 Comments »

Big Horns, Medicine Wheel, and the Pryors

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Leslie

Last week I took off for a few days and went to the Big Horns. I intended to go for 3 days, but got rained out on the second evening. I had been to the Pryors a few days before, and was quite taken with the area so I wanted to explore it more. The Pryors are sacred to the Crow Indians. Part of the land is on Crow Reservation and not accessible to the public. Some of the mountains are in Montana, and some in Wyoming, with a section of it reserved for Wild Horses. The entire area is considered a Wilderness Study Area, which means that it’s pending designated Wilderness. Rarely visited, its a special place. There are some old uranium mines there and mining claims.

Since Day 1 was really hot, I decided to backtrack to the Pryors and head first for the Big Horns. My main intention was to go to The Medicine Wheel. This is a holy site for many Plains Indians tribes. Its a place of pilgrimage.

Entrance to Medicine Wheel

Signage at the site notes that some people can prepare for a year before making the trip. A young Forest Ranger was stationed at the Wheel to make sure there was no vandalism, and if Native Americans wanted to go inside, he had a key. When ceremonies are conducted, the site is closed to tourists.

He told me that years ago, before there was such tight control, tourists (not Native Americans) would take home rocks from the structure as souvenirs. In fact, he said, the height of the circle of rocks was 2′ or 3′ taller than it is today.

I was reminded that in Uluru, tourists sometimes take home pieces from the sacred site. There is a large collection of rocks that were mailed back to Uluru because tourists went home and felt they were brought bad luck, bad karma, or whatever, from taking souvenirs from the site. Medicine Wheel signage I circumambulated the Wheel three times and left a small gift at the East facing entrance. Its a wonderful and mysterious place. Some say it was constructed by Sheepeaters.

From there I took the Jaws hike down a beautiful canyon opposite the Wheel. I saw several moose and deer with their antlers in velvet.

The jaws hike

Along the canyon hike

The next day I went to the Pryors. It was overcast and drizzling, perfect weather for hiking in this exposed country. The Pryors were an ancient Indian route through the Big Horn Canyon. There are many spots right along the main road of the Recreation Area with teepee rings. Instead of going along the main road, I took a 4×4 track.

Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range The Pryors