The Lost Civilization at Range Creek Story and photos by John Toren For 50 years, rancher Waldo Wilcox kept quiet about the mong the ancient peoples remarkable Fremont Indian ruins on his land. His efforts to of the American South- preserve the sites may allow archaeologists to piece together west, the Fremont do not more of the story of this ancient and enigmatic people. loom large in public con- sciousness. They lack the Aspectacular cliff dwellings and zigzag tions are a reflection of the environ- In 1941 the Wilcox family, who had pottery of the Anasazi, the ball courts ment in which they worked—an envi- ranched in the Green River area since of the Hohokam, and the strangely ronment of extremes, in both tempera- 1883, moved their operation to Range modern animal imagery of the ture and elevation, that required move- Creek , tucked deep in the Book Mimbres, all of whom developed com- ment, efficient storage, small-scale Cliffs of eastern Utah. Ten years later plex civilizations to the south of them. communities, and much adaptability. they purchased other chunks of nearby The Fremont are best known for a thin- Fremont sites have been unearthed in land, expanding their holdings in the walled gray pottery that’s difficult to the spring-fed oases of Utah’s salt canyon to 4,200 acres. Waldo Wilcox categorize without the help of chemi- marshes; in desert caves that contain raised cattle for 51 years in this remote cal analysis; a basketry technique the record of several thousand years of enclave of pastures, creeks, and cliffs, that’s unique and often exquisite but continuous occupation; in upland moving his herd year in and year out rarely to be found in the field; and a fields where corn was planted and har- from the of Range Creek to the distinctive style of rock art often con- vested year after year, even though the table lands of the Tavaputs Plateau and taining ominous figures with elongat- elevation made the harvest a doubtful back again. It was a good life, if not an ed trapezoidal bodies, tiny limbs, and proposition at best; and in pinyon- easy one, and Wilcox took pleasure in elaborate necklaces and headdresses. juniper forests where game and nuts pondering one very unusual feature of Almost all Fremont sites that have were plentiful or scarce, depending on the Range Creek land his cows were been excavated share attributes of the season. Some sites appear to have roaming for forage: It contained a neighboring Anasazi, Plains, or Desert been occupied year round, but many remarkable number of Native American Archaic peoples. In fact, the regional more were not. ruins. In fact, the Wilcox ranch may variations in are so great that some archaeologists ques- Reverence for ruins Waldo Wilcox, pictured with the road leading to tion whether such a culture actually Through painstaking examination of Range Creek Canyon in east-central Utah, existed. After studying the Fremont for artifacts, seeds, and waste material at raised cattle for decades in the midst of more than 20 years, expert David B. sites scattered throughout Utah, west- undisturbed ruins of the ancient Madsen felt no uneasiness about open- ern Colorado, and eastern Nevada, a Fremont people. ing a recent monograph with the picture is emerging of a people who words, “The Fremont have always possessed an impressive array of sur- mystified me.” vival strategies. Their baskets, rabbit- All the same, the word Fremont skin clothing, and clay figurines are remains a useful tool for describing a things we can look at, admire, and group that first appeared in Utah and occasionally even touch; but in the surrounding areas around A.D. 400 end, the wiliness and adaptability of and vanished from the scene a thou- the Fremont impress most. sand years later. They were an agricul- The study of Fremont culture has tural people, but they also depended recently been given an enormous boost heavily on hunting and foraging. by an American rancher who also cul- Archaeologists have recently come tivated the virtues of adaptability and around to the notion that their varia- movement.

28 THE HISTORY CHANNEL MAGAZINE May/June 2005 ‘It’s very remote, few people knew anything about it, and those who did also knew that Waldo Wilcox was protecting it. Now two of those three things are gone.’

THE HISTORY CHANNEL MAGAZINE 29 May/June 2005 well hold the most extensive grouping the ruins of a village that had probably By that time state archaeologist of Fremont dwellings and artifacts that not been visited in 700 years. In the Kevin Jones and site archaeologist anyone is ever likely to discover. course of time Wilcox developed an Duncan Metcalf had already been at Wilcox learned the value of the impressive collection of surface work for several years cataloging sites sites early in life. At the age of 11, finds—pottery, tools, arrowheads— at Range Creek and developing a strat- while he was playing in a remote sec- without beginning to plumb the rich- egy for the enormous task of unearthing tion of the ranch, he came upon a ness the area had to offer. But he never the story that lies hidden in the rubble. Fremont granary and carved his name lost sight of the cultural value of what When it became widely known that the in it. When his father caught wind of his land contained and the importance canyon was public land, freely accessi- the episode, he let his son have it. It of keeping it intact. In 2001, when he ble to anyone who cared to enter on foot or horseback, they knew their strategy would have to change. “Three things have preserved Range Creek,” says Metcalf, a profes- sor of archaeology at the University of Utah. “It’s very remote, few people knew anything about it, and those who did know about it also knew that Waldo Wilcox was protecting it. Now two of those three things are gone.” Metcalf has shifted the attention of

Meet the Fremont Range Creek Canyon, located in the remote reaches of east-cen- tral Utah, will be closed to vehic- ular travel for some time to come, but the remains of Fremont cul- ture can easily be explored up View of the Range Creek valley with pit house remains in the forground at right. and down the length of nearby Nine Mile Canyon. Following a didn’t take long for the young Waldo felt he was too old to maintain the well-graded gravel road, visitors to develop the kind of respect for the ranch at Range Creek, Wilcox quietly pass numerous examples of rock ancient sites that his father already began transferring ownership to the art, several Fremont pit houses, possessed, and when he took over the state of Utah. In a complex chain of and scattered ranch buildings— ranch Waldo built a sturdy gate to deter events, the San Francisco-based Trust some derelict, some still in use, casual visitors and keep looters from for Public Lands bought the ranch, including the headquarters of poking around on his property. “My then turned it over to the Federal Utah’s most famous cattle family, father taught me we should leave Bureau of Land Management, which the Nutters. Guides are available things just the way we found them, or in turn conferred primary responsibili- at the Prehistoric Museum in maybe a little better,” Wilcox says. ty for managing the ranch to Utah’s Price, which also houses exhibits “All we’ve lost at Range Creek in the Department of Wildlife Resources. containing Fremont basketry, last 50 years is a lot of rattlers and the moccasins, and rare figurines. An spotted frog.” Celebrity threatens site excellent recent account of both Though he’s not an archaeologist For several years news of the sale of the history of research into himself, Wilcox eventually got to Range Creek to the government was Fremont culture and the sights to know every inch of his unusual hold- limited to specialists, but in the sum- be seen in Nine Mile Canyon can ing. On one memorable occasion he mer of 2004 the national wire services be found in the 2003 book was chasing a mountain lion up the caught wind of it and the authorities Horned Snakes and Axle Grease side of a steep escarpment and was found it expedient, though they had by Jerry D. Spangler and Donna stopped dead in his tracks by the sight misgivings, to bring in a group of jour- K. Spangler.—J.T. of a perfectly preserved granary and nalists to view the canyon.

30 THE HISTORY CHANNEL MAGAZINE May/June 2005 his crew away from a broad survey of the sites scattered throughout the area toward marking, cataloging, and removing surface finds along the dusty road that threads the length of the canyon. “Right now I’m not as worried about the professional pot hunters as I am about the casual tourist looking for souvenirs,” he says. After a summer devoted to such work, it’s possible that someone could walk the length of the

A granary (left and inset, above) clings inconspicu- ously to a rock face 40 feet above the canyon floor. canyon today, enjoying the beautiful cliff walls, the scattered cottonwoods, the rabbit brush, and the bubbling creek without the slightest suspicion that he or she was standing in the middle of a vanished civilization. On the other hand, the discerning eye, looking up, would see stone and adobe granaries clinging to niches in the cliff face, their roofs still intact. And here and there displayed along the canyon walls, reindeer—fierce trape- zoidal figures—and enigmatic spirals betray the presence of a long-lost peo- ple. On the benches above the creek, circles of crude black stones standing on end project a foot or more above the desert floor—clear evidence of pit houses. No glamorous cliff dwellings, no dazzling turquoise necklaces, just the day-to-day artifacts from which

THE HISTORY CHANNEL MAGAZINE 31 May/June 2005 creek’s alluvial deposits, the gatherings of the local pack rats, the social pat- terns suggested by the arrangement of villages and building sites for 12 miles up and down the canyon.” He points to the pile of enormous black stones at his feet. “If this pit house were in any other canyon, some pot hunter would have dug a big hole in it long ago. It’s infi- nitely easier to study a site that hasn’t been disturbed.” As Metcalf summons the various possibilities to mind once again, he sighs and says, as if to himself, “I could spend the rest of my career here.” For that to happen, cooperation— not only of two dedicated archaeolo- gists, but also of a host of private and governmental organizations—will be necessary. The original impetus for Site archeaologist Duncan Metcalf (left) and state archaeologist Kevin Jones. purchasing the land came from local sportsmen’s groups, and plans are soon became Very Big Village.” afoot to establish a management part- ‘We’re like During the first week of work in the nership between wildlife resource Gilligan and canyon, the crew identified 77 sites. managers, the Utah state park system The number has since risen well into (which has the wherewithal to handle the Skipper. It the hundreds, and Jones estimates that large numbers of people and to devel- several thousand sites will eventually op interpretive material), and the started out as be identified. “We’re like Gilligan and University of Utah. And although the a three-hour the Skipper,” Jones quips. “It started Fremont are not usually considered out as a three-hour tour…and we’ve ancestors of the Numic-speaking tribes tour…and been on the voyage ever since.” that currently live in the area, the input Jones and Metcalf have known of these groups will also undoubtedly we’ve been each other since graduate school, and be a part of whatever management on the voyage it’s clear that their friendship goes well plan is eventually devised. beyond professional collegiality. They Many questions remain about secu- ever since.’ both recognize the potential of Range rity, fire protection, and public access Creek Canyon and have dedicated to the canyon. Is Range Creek a cultur- Jones and Metcalf hope, through years themselves, with an intensity that’s al asset, a wilderness area, a hunting of painstaking analysis, to develop a quite moving, to cultivating it fully. preserve, or an area of essentially sci- clearer picture of who these people entific interest? It may be all of these were and how they lived. An archaeologist’s dream things, but more than anything else, it’s On this level of study, the riches of “Archaeologists too often work under an archaeologist’s dream, offering a Range Creek are staggering. Standing extreme time constraints, when a new unique opportunity to study the life- on a terrace above the creek in the highway is being planned or a new sub- ways of a now-vanished people. It’s the midst of an ensemble of pit houses, division is being plotted, and every kind of opportunity that until recently, Metcalf remarks, “When Waldo added month of delay costs the con- no one would ever have thought possi- showed us this particular site, we were tractor money,” Metcalf points out. ble in 21st-century America. We can impressed, and we immediately named “Here at Range Creek, we have an thank Waldo Wilcox that it exists. H it Big Village. But then Waldo pointed ecosystem that’s largely undisturbed. out another one across the way and we We have large amounts of organic mat- John Toren wrote about Colorado’s had to call it Bigger Village. A hundred ter—timbers, corn, wooden tools—to Chimney Rock archaeological site in yards downstream he showed us what help us with dating. We can study the the January/February issue.

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