Arrowheadology.com: Arrowheads, Indian Artifacts and Early Man

Flashback: The Lost World of Range Creek

Posted on 13. Feb, 2009 by Shannon Graham in Archeological Excavations, Artifact Finds

The world’s greatest open-air museum kept a secret for 50 years.

Imagine discovering a prolific ancient site that has never before been seen by ‘western’ eyes. A site that lay undisturbed for the past 700-1000 years. Arrowheads, pottery sherds, and beads remain in place from where they were last touched. Rock art unmarred by bullet holes and graffiti. Ancient cliff-side granaries still sealed and hiding 1000 year old corn cobs.

This is largely the scene made public in 2004 when the media leaked that Waldo Wilcox, the 74 year-old rancher in Range Creek, Utah had sold nearly 4,000 acres in 2001 to a trust that then donated the land as a sanctuary.

This remote region had no road access at all as late as the mid 20th century. 1947 saw the first primitive road constructed in order to open the canyon to cattle grazing. The Wilcoxes owned a neighboring ranch and purchased the valley to expand their operation. Soon after, the new owners realized this remote valley held and incredible concentration of artifacts, intact structures and other evidence that an ancient culture had long called the place home. They fenced and gated the property to keep folks out and preserve the rich history on the land.

“There was Indian stuff just everywhere,” said Waldo Wilcox. “To be honest, it didn’t mean much to me at the time, but I knew this was a special place and I needed to protect it. I wanted to make sure my kids and grand kids could see what I had seen.”

“For 50 years, everywhere Waldo wandered in Range Creek, chasing stray cows or tracking cougars, he stumbled upon “Indian stuff”—potsherds, chert flakes left by arrowhead makers, manos and metates (“corn grinders,” in Wilcox’s parlance), rings of stones outlining shallow pithouses, granaries on dizzying cliff ledges where the precious corn was stored, and even the graves of the long-dead.”

The property contains extensive remains of what archeologists call the Fremont Culture, which flourished from 400 AD to about 1300 AD. The Fremont people have been described as ‘country cousins’ of the better known Anasazi and thrived in the Southwest. Sometime between 1250 and 1300, both of these desert dwelling cultures suddenly deserted their homes. The reason for their departure remains a mystery.

Granaries cling to steep cliff ledges. Approximately a dozen villages of pit houses sit above the year-round creek.

“These simple dwellings, dug three or four feet into the ground and then finished with low rock walls and a roof, provided the Fremont people a snug abode, one that remained cool in summer and warm in winter. Artifact ’scatters’ are virtually everywhere: just looking at the ground as you walk around reveals pieces of pottery, projectile points (arrowheads and dart points) and other remnants of an ancient way of living.”

Much will be learned about how the Fremont people lived from this 12 mile stretch of concentrated sites containing intact granaries, with roofs still in place, so stout and weatherproof still that actual corncobs remain inside. Elaborate rock art can be seen high on the cliff walls. Ornately decorated pieces of pottery and arrowheads lie on the ground.

“This place reflects an extraordinary state of preservation,” said Utah state archeologist Kevin Jones, “largely because nobody has been allowed in here. So far, we’ve identified more than 250 sites in Range Creek, everything from pictographs to dwellings to artifact scatters. But in this long canyon, and its many side canyons, I do believe we will find thousands more. Thousands. A site this pristine is very rare. And we haven’t even begun to dig yet. We’re still trying to inventory what’s lying around in plain sight. To find something of this scale, this well preserved, in this century, is almost unbelievable.”

Unbelievable it is. Read more here from National Geographic.

Also, see Ellen Sue Turner’s site report and pictures from her 1999 visit to Range Creek. You’ll find it here.

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Tags: Fremont, Range Creek, Utah, Waldo Wilcox