It was a couple of years ago...
I was camped too close to a water trough when the Ranch Manager pulled up on his ATV and parked at a discreet distance. (We're ALL armed and ready, don'chya know.) Leaning over the wheel, he yelled "Whatcha doin' out here, jus' piddlin'?" It's the perfect description.
Piddlin' muh way around on highway 45 south of Vernal, Utah, I pulled over and downloaded this pdf on
Bears Ears Natl Monument.
Produced by
Archeology Southwest and
Friends of Cedar Mesa,
"This report shares the outcomes of a two-day gathering of archaeologists who work or have worked
within what is now Bears Ears National Monument or in southeastern Utah more generally."
The following paragraph is at the end of page 4:
Despite consulting with experts and official records, we are still obliged to estimate the number of
known sites and the projected total number of sites present on the Bears Ears National Monument
landscape. It is estimated that at least several thousand known sites within Bears Ears are not included
in the official state database, and it is also estimated that no more than 10 percent of Bears Ears has
been surveyed. Based on this, a total of at least 100,000 sites is a very reasonable minimum estimate
for the entire monument.
It's a heady statement when contrasted with the contents of the myriad Historical Markers that talk about when So-and-So founded some hole-in-the-wall 150 years ago.
