This is not meant to be morbid but rather a reminder of the extremes of danger for those who traveled this desert trail. What I saw were the historic graves, nothing from the pre-Spanish era. The Sonoran Desert has been inhabited for over 10,000 years and archaeologists have limited knowledge of the first people. What little is known consists of trails, trail shrines, petroglyphs/pictographs, mano and metate sites, sleeping circles and geoglyphs (the Blythe geoglyphs being some of the most famous). Some of these markers were names of people who may have died on their desert crossing or maybe just the fact that they were here. There is little information even for the historic markers. They are marked with rock piles in the form of a cross. Many were just rocks piled over the grave. One documented grave is that of Dave O'Neill, a prospector whose body was found along the trail in 1915. The irony of the circumstances of his death is that his body was found face down in a puddle...
Stay safe! :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad you haven't lost your sense of humor.
ReplyDelete