12 November 2008

Gila Cliff Dwellers, Art, Copper Mining and History



This is the Santa Rita Copper Mine NM, one of the largest and oldest in the world.



One man's graffiti is another man's art. Somebody drove the slow mountain road to 9,000 feet to put in this effort....and I thought it was kind of funny.





These are the Mogollon Cliff Dwellings in Gila National Forest and these people were the ancestors of the Apaches and they are 1500 years old. This series of 5 photos reminded me of why I like history. There is no evidence that the Santa Rita Copper mine, which is enormous, and the road sign art will not be "discovered" in 1500 years and create the same awe as the cliff dwellings. There is also no evidence that these cliff homes (40 rooms at this site, with kitchens, ceremony rooms (the "ceremony" room in a cave I know in PA is used by post-pubescents for "ritual ceremonies" as well), and housing sites.....there is no evidence that these were not considered "inferior housing" in their day. They were discovered in the late 1800's and at that time the dwellings were occupied by cows. Apparently a smart discovery guy sensed that there was something under the "2 feet" of cow dung and he found the caves and now we have an extraordinary archaeological site. What will the future historians and archaeologists think when they "discover" this copper mine and road sign. I love that history is the attempt to interpret and make sense of the past. I think sometimes we might assign a more positive interpretation than may be accurate, and our school books are full of that evidence, but I love the exercise of the whole thing, and the caves, and the copper mine, and the road sign, were interesting.

2 comments:

ouraylover said...

Hot Springs, my Red Mountains, feeling humbled, Ouray, etc. You are there and I am here. What is wrong with this picture? Some guys have all the luck. Continue to feel small, Madden, and
don't forget to breathe. C

ouraylover said...

BTW, Slumgullian is a hungarian dish. C