Turtle Rock, CO

[RGINN]

I've always suspected there may be a couple of prehistoric camp sites in this locale so I went down today to do a little surface surveying. Snow cover kinda put that out of the question, but still a great day to be out. I already felt like there were prehistoric residents around that feature, rather than down in the river valley, but did a little research and found out that about 15 years ago BLM busted a guy who they observed digging up a native burial and using a sifter to recover several artifacts and bones. I hadn't known that before the other day, but after looking around maybe I found his sifter? I won't say anything about a grave location, though.

 

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[RGINN]

...and in that second pic, I always thought that particular rock looked like a pig. But I can't find anybody who agrees with me. Maybe they never raised pigs.

 

[Stringtyer]

...and in that second pic, I always thought that particular rock looked like a pig. But I can't find anybody who agrees with me. Maybe they never raised pigs.

Agreed, the rock does look a bit porcine. Would make a mighty tough BBQ.

 

[vpnavy]

Nice photographs RGINN (especially the tunnel shot). Thanks for sharing...

 

[tamrock]

Finally got a little more ice on that river. That sifter looks like it's been sitting out there for sometime? Can you at least tell me if the burial site is on the other side of the river from where your at? I know there's 2 mound stacks of a particular kind of rock. Those rocks were taken from one area and placed in another and for years now I've wondered who would have done that? Was it a burial site or did somebody stash something there using these particular kindof rocks as an indicator?? When I first saw those two mounds, something in me said Huh! ... I herd a story of a couple of prospectors placer mining up by Granite. One of the miners headed to Salida for some more supplies. On his return he ran into his partner then heading to Salida who told his partner he was feeling pretty sick, but not to worry, because he stashed the two flasks of gold- mercury amalgam in a place where fire nor water will harm them. When the sick prospector made it to the doctor in Salida he then died of a ruptured spleen and his partner could never find where he stashed the gold they had recovered further up the river. I've often wondered if someone else would ever recognize what I saw back in the 1980s as I roamed around many wonderful days through that area. It was just me and Lucky the Blue Healer and we'd rarely see another sole back then. These days there's folks crawling all over that country so I've never gotten back there to see if what I found back then is still there left undisturbed.

 

[WannaDig3687]

Beautiful photos, RGINN. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RGINN]

Finally got a little more ice on that river. That sifter looks like it's been sitting out there for sometime? Can you at least tell me if the burial site is on the other side of the river from where your at? I know there's 2 mound stacks of a particular kind of rock. Those rocks were taken from one area and placed in another and for years now I've wondered who would have done that? Was it a burial site or did somebody stash something there using these particular kindof rocks as an indicator?? When I first saw those two mounds, something in me said Huh! ... I herd a story of a couple of prospectors placer mining up by Granite. One of the miners headed to Salida for some more supplies. On his return he ran into his partner then heading to Salida who told his partner he was feeling pretty sick, but not to worry, because he stashed the two flasks of gold- mercury amalgam in a place where fire nor water will harm them. When the sick prospector made it to the doctor in Salida he then died of a ruptured spleen and his partner could never find where he stashed the gold they had recovered further up the river. I've often wondered if someone else would ever recognize what I saw back in the 1980s as I roamed around many wonderful days through that area. It was just me and Lucky the Blue Healer and we'd rarely see another sole back then. These days there's folks crawling all over that country so I've never gotten back there to see if what I found back then is still there left undisturbed.

That particular one's on the east side of the river higher up. Probably lots of others around in the area. I'm interested in figuring out if there was a permanent type camp in the area.

 

[diggingthe1]

Great pictures! There was a lot of activity where Trout Creek drops in a little more to the south. I would like to stumble upon some places where Weston pass comes into the Arkansas river. It sure must be nice getting out in those hills exploring!

 

[tamrock]

That particular one's on the east side of the river higher up. Probably lots of others around in the area. I'm interested in figuring out if there was a permanent type camp in the area.

I'm pretty sure permanent camps where around there. It was after all the edge of the banana belt, with many days of sunshine. Seems to me a great place to set up a large camp. I'll bet it got real busy during the years the pinõn trees produced in that area. I use to head out to gather pinõn nuts when the trees around there where producing.