Calf Creek Indians

The beautiful Calf Creek canyons were once inhabited by ancient American Indians. Today their presence and influence still remain in the form of ancient dwellings, storage structures (graineries), and hugh life size pictographs. The 5.5 mile round trip trail from the Calf Creek parking lot to the falls gives a glympse of what life might have been like for these Indians.

Squawbush.

Fremont Barberry.

Utah Juniper.

Along the trail you will encounter the above storage grainery high up on the cliffs. It was built around 1000 to 1200 A.D. by Indians who farmed the Calf Creek canyon bottoms and stored their produce in these high, dry, probably rodent-proof structures. Peoples of both the Anasazi and Fremont cultures were residents in the area at the time these structures were built. Which of these cultures actually built these structures is unknown, but may be revealed through further archeological research.

Many of the plants and trees were used by the Indians such as:

• Four-winged saltbrush (Atriplex canescens) can be identified by its seeds which have four parts, or wings. Wildlife and livestock browse this plant. Native peoples ground and cooked its seeds as a cereal; the leaves were dried and mixed with other ingredients for flour. Ashes of burned saltbush were used as a leavening for breads.

• Squawbush (Rhus trilobata) was highly sought after by the early Native Americans. They ate the red berries and used the pliable brances for making baskets. Due to its pungent aroma, this plant is sometimes called skunkbush.

• Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) was used to make dyes: yellow from the flowers and green from the inner bark. The inner bark also contains latex which can be used to make rubber products, but it has not proven practical as a commercial source of rubber.

• Fremont barberry or hollygrape (Berberis fremontii) has a leaf like a holly and a fruit like a grape. A yellow dye can be made from the root extracts.

• One of the prevalent trees at Calf Creek is the Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). Commonly called "cedars", junipers are used locally for fence posts. The seeds ("berries") are eaten by wildlife and dried seeds were used by Native Americans for making jewelry.

• The pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) tree produces an edible nut long used as a staple food by the Indians. The nuts are an important food source for rodents and birds. Resin from these trees was also used by Indians to waterproof baskets and to cement turquoise stones to jewelry.

Part way up the trail, these pictographs can be seen located near the bottom of the eastern wall of Calf Creek canyon. The four large figures are painted in red and are typical of Fremont style and form. The pictographs date to 1000 A.D. or earlier and could represent deities, cultural heros, or they may depict a ceremony or event.

The following shows another storage structure that can be found along the road just outside Escalante. The Fremont culture used these as granaries sometime between 1050 to 1200 A.D. The Fremont were a hunting and gathering soiety who supplemented that way of life by growing corn, beans, and squash.