The Art of Survival
An incalculably precious national resource is threatened in Utah.
BY REED KARAIM
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The splendid Fremont petroglyph
panel, "'Balloon Man' and Hunters", near Utah's
Balanced Rock in Nine Mile Canyon Road (© 2000
A. Crane)
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A canyon in the distant
recesses of central Utah is an odd place to discover
breathtaking works of art. At first glance, Nine Mile
Canyon, not far from the city of Price, seems largely
untouched by human hands. A small ranch operates on
the canyon floor, and a few cabins sit on private
land off a dirt road that was constructed by the Buffalo
Soldiers 130 years ago. The road doesn't feel as if
it has been improved much since. Other signs of civilization
intrude here and there. But most of the canyon is
a place out of time, empty and wild, feeling much
as it must have for thousands of years.
Yet this little-visited place is also
one of the world's great open-air museums, a meandering
gallery of prehistoric ruins and, most astonishingly,
art. For thousands of years Native American artists
worked in Nine Mile Canyon, carving and painting the
flat sandstone panels of its walls, leaving images
of disturbing power and mystery—carefully wrought
abstract symbols, as well as scenes of men, animals,
and creatures like horned snakes and floating, demonic
figures. These artists created elaborate hunting scenes,
sweeping battle landscapes, and even what appear to
be family portraits.
Thousands of such sites can be found
in the canyon, which winds for about 50 miles. "I've
been looking at rock art for 25 years, and there's
nothing else like Nine Mile Canyon on the North American
continent," said Layne Miller, president of the Utah
Rock Art Research Association, which consists of amateur
enthusiasts and professional anthropologists.
The canyon and its trove of art, however,
are threatened by an energy project that is considerably
less unique. Last summer, with the approval of the
U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), Bill Barrett Corp. began searching for natural
gas on public land on the plateau above Nine Mile
Canyon and in some of its finger canyons. The Denver-based
firm used underground dynamite charges and special
trucks that vibrate the earth to conduct its exploration.
Now it's going ahead with plans to drill up to 38
test wells in the canyon area. Barrett believes there's
a good chance sizable gas reserves will be found.
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