PETROGLYPHS AND FORT PEARCE MONUMENT

On this beautiful spring Saturday at the end of March. We went and spent the morning with Grandma and Papa, going for a little ride to the Black Hill Petroglyphs across the state line in Arizona. When we got there we got out to go for a little hike on the trail to see these amazing remnants of the past. Along our hike you girls were so excited about seeing lizards along our trails, Anastyn was funny she kept saying where the "SNAKES" at referring to the lizards. We had to stop and take a picture on every rock that we passed, because of the shapes or holes that were in them we even crawled through them with Grandma. On the petroglyphs we saw one that looked like Santa Claus and his Reindeer.
After we were done at the Black Hills we took a drive around the hill to the Fort Pearce monument out towards Hurricane in Warner Valley. The small structure at the Fort Pearce Historic Site is one of only three remaining stone guard posts built during Utah’s Black Hawk War. This “war” was actually period of intermittent raiding between 1865 and 1870, during which the Ute Tribe, led by Chief Black Hawk (Antonga), and other Native Americans allies attempted to drive the Mormons from the Ute traditional homelands. Mounted Ute raiding parties, often joined by Navajos, stole Mormon livestock, attacked outlying ranches and settlements, and killed settlers who interfered with the raids. More than 100 Native Americans and at least 70 Mormons were killed during the raiding.

To protect their herds and homes, local Mormon militia constructed a series of protected guard or sentry posts, called ‘forts’, along major trails and travel corridors in central and southern Utah. Four to six armed men with horses were stationed at each post, to attack and delay the Indian raiding parties, while a rider raced to the nearest settlements with a warning. Horses were stabled at night in the guard posts, to ensure that the early warning ride could be made without delay.

This was really cool to see tons of rocks stacked up in the shape of a house with just a few windows in them to be able to get there rifles out and protect there herds from the indians. That was a wonderful start to our beautiful Spring time saturday morning.