appaloosa's photos

Because I've been on that road, in that valley.. ;-) Had it printed and mounted here: www.canvasndecor.ca/panoramic-canvas-prints.html

Just a few months after Team Ipernity offered a " two for one " subscription offer to boost finances and increase membership, came the terse announcement that they could no longer sustain the site, and would be shutting down Jan 31, 2017 . FLICKR users who had migrated to iPernity.com after Yahoo's disastrous Flickr Fiasco in May 2013 now had to re-live the fiasco all over again, in not only trying to find a new home & new community for sharing their photos & stories, but were given a very short window to save (without any help, tools, api, or suggestion on how to do so) & move all of their images, text, stories, and documents to another server (some iPernity users had been members for years and had amassed hundreds, if not thousands of photos). Ipernity users who are smart, would already have backup originals of all their work, but for all those who used the site not only for sharing photos, but for social interaction and friendship as well, now have to scramble to set up these connections elsewhere. What a huge amount of wasted time and effort.

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Near the White House Overlook & Trailhead, along the south rim of Hwy Rte 7.

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Donkeys and horses roam freely throughout the Canyon - and throughout Navajo land. These animals share a long history with the Diné. The horses are descendants of livestock brought over by early Spanish raiders and explorers in 1500's, and then abandoned. The Navajo quickly adopted these animals, and honed their horsemanship skills; revolutionizing their culture in terms of trade, transportation, and wealth. Nowadays, local Navajo guides hire them out to tourists for guided trail rides in the canyon. Some of the horses manage to break free from their captivity, and roam freely - like these guys here. The Navajo don't seem to mind though; they take a benevolent view of these wandering livestock, and let them be. Then again, the horses know where their food source is - and don't wander too far from their human benefactors.

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Antelope House is an Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) ruin located in the Canyon del Muerto branch of Canyon de Chelly. It is believed to have been occupied between approximately 850 and 1270 AD. The ruins are named after nearby petroglyphs of antelope and other animals made by the Navajo in the 1830's. I was more than a little surprised to see such a controversial image etched into the sandstone canyon wall (see middle of photo) from hundreds of years ago, but Ben Teller, our Navajo guide, tells us that the symbol carries significant meaning for both the Hopi and the Navajo. For the Hopi, it was a symbol of the four directions of the wandering Hopi clan; to the Navajo it is an ancient symbol -- tsil no'oli (the whirling log) and used by the Diné in their weavings, basketry and pottery. See this LINK The same place, over 100 years ago: bit.ly/3T3OMKu Antelope Ruin - Cañon del Muerto, 1906 photo by Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) via Northwestern University, digital archives Collection: Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Ben Teller, Navajo guide Antelope House Tours Canyon del Muerto is a legendary place, one that figures prominently in Diné oral history. In Canyon del Muerto, Ben Teller tells us the story of Spanish soldiers in 1805, who rode through the canyon, plundering farms and crops, and killing Navajo men, women and children. Some took refuge and shelter among the caves along the high ledges of the canyon walls. As one Spanish soldier crossed the threshold of a cave with the notion of rounding up prisoners and taking them as slaves, a brave Navajo woman ran towards the soldier and locked her arms around him, then hurled herself over the precipice - the two figures, locked in a desperate grip, plunged several hundred feet to their deaths. The Diné have settled here long before European recorded history, and they have long suffered numerous attempts to dispossess them of their land, livelihood, and culture – first by the Spanish Conquistadors, and later by American soldiers and settlers. Those who survived the periodic purges, enslavement, and forced marches - returned home to retell their stories, and to reaffirm their identity and kinship to the land. Canyon de Chelly’s red earth symbolizes to the Diné, not only death and bloodshed, but also rebirth and survival; its deep canyons are doorways that open into the past, present, and future. Tourists now flock to the cottonwood trees at Antelope House, and stroll about where long ago, Diné blood once flowed in these same canyon trails. See also: "The Place Where Two Fell Off" by Hampton Sides, Oct 2 2006 www.outsideonline.com/1825096/place-where-two-fell

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Petroglyphs Standing Cow Ruin, Canyon del Muerto

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Petroglyphs at Standing Cow Ruin, Canyon del Muerto On a high ledge (see photo inset, left) in the shelter of Standing Cow Ruin, Ben points out a remarkable series of pictographs on the sandstone wall. It is a series of images from long ago - a cavalcade of riders wearing flat-brimmed hats, carrying lances and muskets, their capes clearly emblazoned with the catholic cross. "The Spaniards," Ben says. I have not been able to determine whether these pictographs represent the first Spanish Conquistors (under Francisco Vázquez de Coronado) and Franciscan monks (1540 - 1542) who explored the southwest and established settlements throughout, or whether these pictographs came later, inked by the survivors of the Antonio de Narbona massacre (1805). And then Ben tells us a story passed down through Diné oral history, that these haunting images are a reminder of a painful event of long ago: in January 1805, when a force of nearly 500 Spanish soldiers under the command of Antonio Narbona, raided the canyon, killing over 115 Navajo and taking 33 women and children as slaves. These were, presumably; the same men who were responsible for the killings of Navajo women, children and old men further deep into the canyon at a place called Massacre Cave (hence the naming of this particular branch of Canyon de Chelly as Canyon del Muerto ).

photo of Maynard Dixon, outside of Charles Lummis' house, early 1900's. Photo by Charles Lummis. See also: www.ipernity.com/doc/appalooosa/42982512/in/album/913722 Charles Fletcher Lummis was an early mentor to Maynard Dixon, who became a lifelong friend. Lummis was a traveller, historian, journalist, and all round bon vivant. He knew everybody there was to know! He was the Gertrude Stein of the Los Angeles west coast scene in his day!

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Maynard Dixon (1875 – 1946) visited Canyon de Chelly in 1923 and was similarly impressed as Edward S. Curtis (1868 - 1952) must’ve been when he took his famous photo of Navajo Riders in Canyon de Chelly (1904). Inspired by deep sandstone hues of the Canyon walls, Dixon painted " Ledge of Sunland ” (1922, Oil on Canvas, 25" x 30") and Canyon del Muerto - Coronado Rock (c. 1923 oil on canvas 25" x 30") both which are evocative of Curtis’ famous photo.

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 This little documentary is both eloquent and moving: youtu.be/J0jEaEkj0Pg Canyon del Muerto is a legendary place, one that figures prominently in Diné oral history. Tséyi , (meaning "the place deep in the rock" ) - is home to three major canyons: Canyon de Chelly, Canyon del Muerto, and Monument Canyon. The Diné have settled here long before European recorded history, and they have long suffered numerous attempts to dispossess them of their land, livelihood, and culture – first by the Spanish and later by American soldiers and settlers. In 1805, Canyon del Muerto was the site of a Spanish invasion and daylong battle that left over a hundred men, women, and children dead; and numerous survivors captured and taken as slave by the Spanish. In 1864 the United States instigated a “scorched earth” policy, burning Diné farms, cutting down orchards, slaughtering animals and killing many Navajo. Those who survived the periodic purges, enslavement, and forced marches - returned home to retell their stories, and to reaffirm their identity and kinship to the land. Canyon de Chelly’s red earth symbolizes to the Diné, not only death and bloodshed, but also rebirth and survival; its deep canyons are doorways that open into the past, present, and future. Tourists now flock to the cottonwood trees at Antelope House, and stroll about where long ago, Diné blood once flowed in these same canyon trails.

Canyon de Chelly, AZ (Canyon del Muerto) DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Canyon del Muerto is a legendary place, one that figures prominently in Diné oral history. Ben tells us the story of Kit Carson & his men who rode through the canyon in 1864 during their "scorched earth" attempt to bring the Navajo to their knees. Close to 9,000 Navajo were rounded up and captured, then forced to march - known as the " Long Walk " - to an internment camp in southeastern New Mexico where they were held as prisoners for 4 years, until General Sherman allowed them to return to their ancestral homelands in 1868. The Navajo still talk about this tragedy as though it happened yesterday, and nowhere is this more keenly felt than at Canyon de Chelly. Excerpt from the book Native American Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations from Prophecy to the Present, 1492-2000 , Revised Ed. by Peter Nabokov, pub. Penguin Books " They rode out in small parties in every direction and killed all the Navajo sheep, goats, horses, and cows that they could find. They killed the herders with the sheep, little boys, and grown men, and chased them through the rocks. The soldiers took the wheat to feed their horses and mules and cut down all the corn. The Mexicans and Utes and Zuňis all trailed the Navajo everywhere and robbed them and stole their women and children. The Navajos went further up the Canyon de Chelly, but the Mexican soldiers followed them. They cut down their peach trees and corn and chased the Indians up over the rocks, so high that their bullets would not reach,. Then they tried to starve them out. But the Navajo had taken many water bottles with them and had hidden lots of corn in the caves, and at night while the soldiers were asleep, they would slip down and bring back more water. Every day the Mexicans and the Utes would ride out over the canyon, and whenever they found sheep or pony tracks, they would follow them and kill the herders. " -- as related by Chester Arthur, clan relative of Henry Chee Dodge.

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Canyon del Muerto is a legendary place, one that figures prominently in Diné oral history. Ben Teller tells the story of how the Navajo, in the winter of 1864, used the Canyon as a hideout when Kit Carson and his troops came rampaging and pillaging through the Canyon. The Navajo men men gouged toeholds into the rock, and used ladders and ropes to stockpile water and food supplies such as smoked turkey, piñon nuts, wild potatoes. Some 300 men, women, and children hid among the ledges and in the caverns. As the siege took hold with American soldiers marching into the canyon and burning corn fields, slaughtering sheep, destroying crops, and killing Navajo men, women and children; U.S. Army troops would camp near the base of Fortress Rock, beside a stream called Tsaile Creek, and attempted to starve the Navajo into final submission. But unknown to the soldiers, the Navajo formed a human chain along the sloping rock, down to Tsaile Creek, when the soldiers were sleeping. They dangled gourds from yucca ropes, dipping the containers into the cold running water and filled gourd after gourd and steadily passed the vessels from hand to hand back up the sheer rock face to the summit, and that way, the Navajo outlasted the siege and survived. The story ends sadly; eventually all the resisters were captured and were forced to join the long walk to the incarceration camp at Bosque Redondo, NM. See this LINK

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Our guides/drivers: Lloyd Taylor (Flagstaff) and Ben Teller (Canyon de Chelly). Ben Teller was our guide during our explorations of Canyon de Chelly in early October. Ben was born & raised in Canyon de Chelly, where much of his family still live. Together with his son Adam Teller they run their own company Antelope House Tours which you can book from his website. Ben shared many stories with us (some of them quite poignant, and some of them funny) as he drove us through the Canyon. I was delighted to have spent some time with this man. Ben's ancestry traces back to the great Navajo spiritual leader Barboncito (1821–1871) who tried to stop the forced relocation and internment of Navajo tribe members to Bosque Redando, NM, by the U.S. army. Barboncito was present when the Treaty of 1868 was signed to end hostilities between the US and the Navajo people, which allowed them to return to their ancestral land at Canyon de Chelly. Barboncito is largely credited for the long-term success of the Navajo culture and relations with non-Navajo. Shortly after the enactment of the Treaty, Barboncito died in 1871 at Cañon de Chelly.

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Ben takes us further into the channels of the canyon and we stop at a branch called " Canyon del Muerto ." He tells us the story of how his ancestors gouged out toeholds in the rock to climb the ledges. Using ropes and wooden ladders, some Navajos took refuge high up on the large rock formation They would hide fruit, piñon nuts, smoked turkey, and corn to try and outlast the seige of Kit Carson and his men. In 1864, as the American Civil War was winding down, U.S. Government troops under General James H. Carlton, forced the removal of over 8,500 Navajo from their ancestral homelands, to a reservation on the Pecos River at the Bosque Redondo near Fort Sumner in New Mexico. This infamous journey is known among the Navajo as the “Long Walk,” and figures prominently in their oral history. It is as embedded in their collective consciousness, much the same way as the holocaust is to the Jews. The Navajo have a strong tradition of oral history, and the events of this terrible past are retold through the elders, from generation to generation. Recommended Reading: Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period , pub. by Navajo Community College Press (Dine College), 1973

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 It was because of this photograph: Edward S. Curtis (Feb 16, 1868 – Oct 19, 1952), Navajo Riders in Canyon de Chelly , c. 1904 I've had this book forever: Portraits From North American Indian Life ( Outerbridge & Lazard pub.1st ed ), and it was this iconic book cover that inspired me to visit the unforgettable landscape of the American Southwest, and Canyon de Chelly. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I'd be walking in this same place, in the footsteps of spirits and legends, of centuries ago. There is so much history here, so many stories, ...one can almost sense the spirits that roam this place... See also this link . Complete Edward S. Curtis archives are HERE

DAY 9 FRI 5 OCT 2012 Chamisa (rabbitbrush). The plant is a significant source of food for horses, burros and foraging wildlife that wander through the canyon. In other areas of the southwest - particularly on the Zuni and Hopi reserves - the blossoms are harvested to make a yellow dye and the stems used to make baskets.