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Mishipizheu (also known as the Great Horned Lynx), Agawa Rock, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario
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Video of Agawa Rock, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario
The Agawa Rock pictographs are located on a rock outcropping extending into Lake Superior in Agawa Bay. Some paintings are at least 1500 years old, while others may only date back to the 1800s. “Agawa” means “sacred place” in the Ojibwe language. The Ojibwe believed that spirits concentrated in the rock outcroppings of the Lake Superior shore, which belonged to the mysterious domain of the powerful Ojibwe sea monster Mishipizheu (also known as the Great Horned Lynx). The first printed reference to the Agawa pictographs occurred in ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft’s 1851 study “The American Indians. Their History, Condition and Prospects.” The pictographs, recount the daring crossing of eastern Lake Superior by a fleet of war canoes, led by the warrior and medicine man Myeengun, with the blessing of Mishipizheu.
Lake Superior Provincial Park – Ontario, Canada
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Video of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park has the largest collection of fossilized trees in the world. 225 million years ago the trees, Araucarioxylon, Woodworthia, Schilderia, and others, fell into streams and washed into floodplains and mixed with silt, mud, and volcanic ash. Silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs and replaced the wood tissue with silica. The silica crystallized into quartz, preserving the wood. Remnants of early human occupation of the area dating back to 1250 A.D. are found at Puerco Pueblo. The 100 room pueblo sheltered over 1,000 people. More recently, the Painted Desert Inn, built by Herbert David Lore around 1920, was used as the first overnight lodge in the area. The décor and architecture of the Painted Desert Inn reflects the awesome vistas of the surrounding beauty of the Painted Desert. The nearby trail head will lead you to a unique wilderness camping environment. Musice copyright 2008 by Maury Smith. Slide show and photographs copyright 2008, Creative Juice LLC.
Petrified Forest National Park
Map of the Petrified Forest National Park
Brochures in PDF about the lifeforms and history of the Petrified National Foreswt
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Video of San Rafael Swell, Utah
The San Rafael Swell is a geographical feature in southeastern Utah on the Colorado Plateau. It is about 50 miles long and 30 miles wide. This 600,000 acre area along Interstate 70 has many unique and spectacular landforms. Some of the landforms are slot canyons, sandstone cliffs, mesas, buttes, springs and canyons. Most of the area is under the management of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Early Mormon settlers eked out an existence by ranching and taming the herds of wild horses that still roam the area. Some uranium mining was done in the 1950’s. There are Native American rock art sites and the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry to explore as well.
San Rafael Swell (Wikipedia entry)
Blog entries for the San Rafael Swell
