petro.html

Located on the Naval Station at China Lake California is the largest and most well preserved site of petroglyphs in the Western USA. This art is chiseled into the walls of the canyons and is covered with a sort of natural varnish. They reside in Long and Short Petroglyph Canyons of a combined length of a little more then 4 miles.

The drawings left here by natives of the land over thousands of years line the walls and outcroppings of the canyons. They depict animals of the time and people, tools used at the time, ceremonial pictures and a variety of abstract motifs.

The Maturango Museum provides guided tours several times a year to the petroglyphs and in depth exploration of the area.

To Identify what some of these drawings mean visit the Rock Art Gallery For a description of the area and information about a tour visit Desert USA's Petro page. To get information about when tours are run and how to join one visit the Maturango Museum website.

        It was during the 50'th anniversary celebration (Fall, 1993) of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center that the Maturango Museum selected me to lead a Petroglyph tour. The group consisted of a university professor/cancer researcher and his son - both from New York. Unlike other tours that I had previously led, this one was special and will become apparent as you continue reading.

          Petroglyph Canyon constitutes part of Wild Horse Mesa, an area situated in the north range that was once open to chuckar hunting a few decades earlier. My memories hearken back to the 60�s when I hunted there. Always during the fall season we�d depart from the base very early in the morning to arrive atop the mesa after about an hour's drive. It was usually around 5 a.m. that we reached our destination only to be met by freezing temperatures and howling wind. Once there, we�d collect our gear and then set about stalking the birds hoping to get bounty for the evening's repast. After hunting all day long we sometimes wouldn�t even see a single chuckar and go home empty-handed as a result.

          But this particular trip was special. Our tour group descended into the canyon and was amazed at the spectacle awaiting us. The canyon's floor and walls were covered with thousands of chukar as far as the eye could see. Thousands of �em. Everywhere! Probably searching for tasty morsels of food, the birds pecked about quietly. The silent activity of that isolated area was peacefully colored over by their soft clucking. And not displaying any nervousness, the birds ignored us. They never exploded into an alarming and thundering take-off as is characteristic when hunters approach a covey.

          We made our way down the canyon amidst the birds. They wouldn�t even move out of the way as we walked here and there to admire the �glyphs. Yet, the birds would occasionally interrupt their feeding activities to observe us with quizzical eyes�as we they. Later that afternoon with the tour completed, we made our way back up the canyon to the parking area. On the way up we rounded one corner of the canyon and were met by a golden eagle that was on the hunt. How majestic it was. As it slowly and leisurely glided along the canyon walls, the raptor turned and flew straight for my head. He bore down on me; I immediately fell flat onto the sandy floor of the canyon to avoid a collision. That was quite a memorable experience! Afterwards I got back on my feet and watched the golden bird lumbering along quietly as if nothing had ever transpired between us.

          The tour group returned to civilization wearing a slight grin on their faces as a result of the unexpected flyby. That tour served as quite a nice culmination to China Lake's 50�th anniversary celebration.

Terry Kokosenski '71