Stories on Stone

American Indians treasure rock markings like these because their ancestors carved them hundreds to thousands of years ago. Different tribes interpret the images in their own ways according to their traditional teachings. Riders on horseback help estimate when the carvings were made, and the style of the figures is typical of Ute rock markings. Ute oral history says that the Mouache and Kapuuta Bands of Ute acquired horses from Spanish traders as early as the 1580s. Ute peoples quickly incorporated horses into their ways of life and travel, and horses remain important to Ute culture today.

Utah · United States