4-Corners and Canyon de chelly

4-Corners

I do not recall who told me to make sure we do not miss 4-corners. This is the only place in North America where 4 states meet at a single point. It is possible to be in all 4 states at once. So we decided to play twister and all 4 of us are in these 4 states at the sames time (Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico). You have to travel through the Navajo Nation to get here, and they charge $3.00 per person to drive down a dirt road and place each limb in these 4 states. The roads are lousy, it is a long way to go, and besides the local vendors, there's nothing to see. I think I would bypass this spectacle unless you like to buy Indian jewelry, t-shirts, knick knacks, etc. Behind the photographer there are over 100 vendor stands (looks like a fourth of July fireworks extravaganza on one of our reservations up north). This I could pass. But, Jeanne and McLeod spent plenty lining the pockets of the locals.

Canyon de-Chelly

Located in the Navajo Nation in Arizona, Canyon de-Chelly is managed by the Federal Government and has status as a National Monument. As such many Navajo's live within the borders of the monument. You can drive up the paved roads and view overlooks; but to enter the canyons you must hire a local Navajo guide. We had heard great stories about this place so we hired a Navajo horseman and rented 4 of his steeds for a tour down into the canyon.

The first requirement was for me to drive up to the visitors center with our Navajo guide, Patrick, to get a permit. Once we filled out the paperwork the Rangers came a looking for Patrick, and escorted him back into the center. I waited out in the truck wondering if he would show up: which he did in about 10 minutes, obviously upset. Not wanting to get scalped I waited for him to break the silence. As he muttered..."gets worse every year..." "...last year they confiscated all our horses and shut us down for 3 months...think I been drinking...made me take a breathalizer.." About this time I took my chances and asked him if he passed. "Yep, blew a 0.0...". Back at the ranch, where the hands were saddling up the horses, I began to wonder just what we had gotten ourselves into. Jeanne's horse had a huge canker sore on the outside of its mouth that was oozing green liquid and smelled something fierce. She pointed this out to Patrick, who feigned surprise and began saddling up an alternate steed. Off we went into the dry riverbed.

I mentioned earlier that I would share the story of the Navajo and the Anasazi. According to Patrick, our drunk horse abusing guide, the Anasazi were punished by their gods for partaking in too much hallucinogenics. They enjoyed these herbs (or whatever) very much and just started getting screwed up rather than doing their work. The gods displeasure came in several stages:

1. In the first stage the gods withheld the rain for a long time, creating drought and making life very difficult for the Anasazi.
2. Many survived this drought and continued their ways. They also turned to incest which further displeased the gods. The gods then released huge quantities of water, sweeping many of the people down river to their deaths.
3. Those that survived turned to cannibalism which further displeased the gods. Patrick does not know what the gods did next but the people of the Anasazi disappeared without a trace. Even leaving their animals and valuables. They just up and disappeared!

Well, this was a great story. Told with many facial expressions and much fortitude. Passed down by this gransdfather, this is what Patrick believes happened to the Anasazi; a very wicked people, and called "the ancient enemies" by the Navajo.

These petroglyphs depict the Anasazi symbols for water (the frog in the upper center and the squiggly line on the left), and Kokopelli on his back. Kokopelli stands for many different things depending on who you talk to. Most believe he is a merry maker who travels the earth. Also a kind of "Johnny Appleseed" planting seeds along his way. Basically, a pretty good guy that you would love to have over for a beer. The hand prints are believed to be signatures. These date to 1100-1200 A.D.

These petroglyphs date to about 1300 A.D. and are from the Hopi. The symbol in the upper left (which looks like a basketball with 3 lines above it to me) is the symbol for a bear claw; classic Hopi. Other symbols represent snakes, which were traditional in Hopi ceremonies. These petroglyphs were right around the corner on a rock face from the Anasazi's above (yet 100 - 200 years later).

These petroglyphs were only a few feet from those above, and were made by the Navajo in about 1580 (notice the horses, brought over by the Spaniards in the 1500's). These depict the capture of a Mule deer by these 2 hunters. They hold their arms up to show that they do not have any weapons, and according to Patrick, this deer was killed humanely by being run up a box canyon and suffocated by dumping something (which I do not remember) over its head that would clog its nose. This was done because the hide was to be used in a healing ceremony and any blood (caused by a spear, bullet, etc) would render the hide useless for this purpose.

We felt honored to be told this great story by Patrick. It made the trip up the canyon (3-hours on horseback) worth the saddle sore.

If you decide to go to Canyon de Chelly make sure you travel into the bottom of the canyon by horseback. As Patrick told us "...if you view the canyon from the top, you are a tourist. If you view it from the bottom, you are a visitor...". The cliff dweller ruins are not nearly as spectacular as those in Mesa Verde. However, the ability to ride the canyon floor via horse (or 4 WD) is great!