Friday - June 22 Moose Jaw and petroglyphs

Moose Jaw and St. Victor petroglyphs

As you have probably surmised by now, we found an Internet access point in Moose Jaw – Coffee Encounters. Free Wi-Fi, good coffee, and free refills. (Our first day in town, we had to pay for a second cup!)

For a change of pace, we decided we would visit some Indian petroglyphs about 75 miles south of Moose Jaw. We set out, after visiting the coffee / Internet café, about 10:30 a.m. I don’t know about you, but 75 miles doesn’t sound very far – particularly after traveling 2,200 miles – but when you’re traveling in flat, flat, flat prairie, 75 miles is a long way! Almost every inch is cultivated, but dotted here and there in this sea of green are the farmhouses, barns, farm equipment, and silos.

In case you’re wondering, the horizon (in a flat / prairie environment is 20+ miles away), proven yesterday when we could see the buildings in Regina and again today when returning and saw a white mound (mining digs) that is north of Moose Jaw.

We stopped for lunch at one of two “restaurants” in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. Never have figured out how it’s pronounced. Here we are, over a thousand miles from the nearest ocean, and today’s special was fish and chips. When I asked for malt vinegar, the lady brought regular vinegar and asked if there was a difference!

Speaking of the distance from the ocean(s), we continue to be amazed during our trip at the “sea” gulls we see. Our friend Jane (in Redondo Beach) – a certified(?) bird-watcher – continues to correct me when I call them sea-gulls (so what would you call them – Lake-Gulls?). Anyway, the white birds we see at the beach (in Florida and California), are here in the prairies of southern Saskatchewan! The reason, I am told, is that there are many large lakes in the area, which the birds inhabit. But what do they do in the winter when it’s 60 below?

Anyway, we finally reached the petroglyphs. We parked and hiked through the woods and reached a wooden platform with a chain-link fence blocking further progress. We were not amused! After retracing our steps to the parking lot, we noticed two ruts proceeding up the hill. Why not, we decided, and drove up. At the top, we were still blocked by a chain-link fence, but at least we were able to look down on the rocks / petroglyphs, which were carved into the stone rather than painted. The glyphs were of a man, a face, animal (bear, deer, man, etc.) footprints, and symbols.

Even though it was not the best time of the day to view them (late afternoon, with a setting sun is best), we were able to make out many of the carvings. The posted signs said the date of the carvings was unknown, but probably between 500 and 1700 A.D. They’re sure about the later date, because there are no carvings or signs of horses which were introduced to the area in 1700 A.D.

There were reproductions of the petroglyphs at the parking lot, I’m not including the photos taken – mostly because they’re not terribly interesting (realizing they’re reproductions). The first photo was taken from the promontory overlooking the petroglyphs and the valley beyond. You probably can’t see it, but if you look hard (or are there), you actually can see the carvings. A significance of these petroglyphs is that they are in horizontal rock – whereas most USA Southwest petroglyphs are in vertical rock, usually inside caves. These are in the open and are obviously weathered, and home to a growing crop of lichen.

The second photo is something we see frequently in the prairie. Fields of yellow – cultivated, to be sure – which we believe are mustard plants. Whatever they are, they are beautiful, particularly when set against fields of pure green and they occasional brown of plowed fields.