Prior to the building of the Swan Falls Dam, a hydroelectric dam built in 1909 on the Snake River, James Lowell Wees, farmer and gold miner, settled in the Snake River Canyon in 1879.
Circa 1910 photo ID-A-0241 from WaterArchives.org
Just up the hill from what are now the remnants of Wees’ stone house are a bunch of large boulders with petroglyphs on their smooth sides.
The petroglyphs are believed to have been chiseled into the hard basalt boulders by the ancestors of the Shoshone Paiute/Bannock tribes up to 10,000 years ago!
Photo Credit – Chanel Abrianna – House of WanderWees Bar Petroglyph
The trail that leads to Wees Bar from Swan Falls is a good 12 miles round trip so bring lots of water, snacks, and watch for snakes.
Here are a couple links with more pics and detail:
“Rocks do speak, if you know how to read them. LaVan did. Before he passed away in 2000, he devoted over 44 years to learning their secrets. His entire life has been spent among the Indians. He was familiar with their ways, traditions, and philosophies. Knowledgable in the sign language, fluent in Indian tongues, versed in cryptonalytical methods.
A man who could produce the key to the mystery of rock writings had to be an unusual man, a man tenacious in the quest for discovery. Here is a man with the right tools and the right background to tell this story, not his story, early man’s story, the Language of the rocks. This was: LaVan Martineau.” – KC Publications
Biography and photos courtesy of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums
Map Rock is a large petroglyph covered boulder due west of Melba, Idaho. It’s roughly the size of a car and sits just a few yards off of Map Rock Road. It’s the color of over-ripe prunes.
While speculative, the map-like inscriptions closely resemble modern day cartography (maps). That’s how it got its name in 1922.
The age of the engravings that cover the boulder have been a topic of debate in scientific communities for years, but serious estimates place the age up 12,000 years old! If true, Map Rock is the oldest known map of its kind IN THE WORLD!
The entire region surrounding Map Rock is a petroglyph landmine. Hundreds, if not thousands, of petroglyphs dot the landscape throughout this section of the Snake River plain.
Hunting down petroglyphs can be tricky! You never know who might be lurking about. Below is a short video featuring our little scaly friend who was admiring another petroglyph a half mile east of Map Rock.
I believe this was a Western Rattlesnake and it was about 5 yards from where Austin is standing. I almost stepped on it before it scooted into the brush. To her credit, she gave me fair warning.
Keep checking back for more information and ongoing Strange Rocks investigation podcast episodes. Here’s a hint at what’s coming down the pipe:
And finally, for those who might have missed this topic series kickoff, here is a link to our Strange Rocks IDL (Investigation Destination Libation) kickoff near Map Rock in the Snake River canyon west of Melba. Forgive the terrible image and audio quality, the wind was howling, the light was fading, and the videographer (Mike) was pretty much lamesauce.
Stay tuned for our next topical series, Strange Rocks. Join us as we explore the strange picta/petro ‘graph/glyphs’ that dot the globe. Are these simply carvings and paintings that depict the lives and times of ancient peoples? Or, are they a lot more? Let’s investigate together!
And as a side nugget (pun intended), here is our IDL (Investigation Destination Libation) for the Strange Rocks kickoff:
Periodically we do an episode themed around our listener’s stories and we want YOURS! Please send your STRANGE stories to: mystory@astrangething.com
Send us your STRANGE story on any topic. Your story might inspire a future episode!
Currently, we are preparing 2 episodes featuring YOUR stories concerning:
Strange Dreams
Everyone has a strange dream now and then but sometimes dreams are beyond the normal strangeness of dreaming. Sometimes dreams change your life or rock your world. Perhaps it’s a recurring dream? Maybe it’s dream that tells you a message? Maybe it’s more like a vision that instills knowledge or even a warning? We want hear and share your strange dream stories.
Strange Blind/Online/Internet Dates
There is no shortage of wild and strange stories in this category. Perhaps you have a funny story? Maybe it was creepy, scary, or terrifying? Maybe the date was fine but something really strange happened while a date. Whatever it is, we want to hear about your strange date!
What are you waiting for? Send us an email and/or attach an audio file if you would like to deliver your story in your own words! Send to : mystory@astrangething.com
Listen To Our 3 – Part Series on Cattle Mutilations!
South Hills – Twin Falls County, Idaho – August 2019
While A Strange Thing was investigating the history of cattle mutilations for our ongoing discussion on this phenomena. A friend affiliated with the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s department told us of a new case filed by a local rancher. An investigation is currently ongoing concerning 3 animal deaths and their associated mutilations. The deaths took place within Twin Falls County, just north of the Nevada/Idaho border, +/- 35 miles straight South of Hansen, ID .
Three animals were discovered on the same day, 2 cows and one young bull. Each animal was in a different location roughly 1/2 mile or so apart.
The cattle were part of an open range co-op and each animal was owned by a different rancher.
The co-op hired a range rider to manage the cattle. This hired range rider found the dead animals and contacted their respective owners. The owners went to the location and then called the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s office who dispatched a range deputy to investigate.
One cow was found by a watering trough. It had NOT been mutilated and appeared to have been shot. There was a pool of blood on the ground underneath its head. We have been unable to contact this rancher.
The bull was found lying on a ridge close by. The rancher we talked to was unable to give much information on this animal other than it did not belong to his herd.
The 3rd cow, which had been mutilated, was found lying in a shallow creek bed within 1/2 mile or so from the other animals. There were no tracks or obvious evidence of predation around the dump site. The cow was missing utters, genitals and uterus (including probable bovine fetus). There was no blood.
The rancher and his wife talked with us via phone. They described the scene of the mutilation as “very strange”. The carcass had not been molested by scavengers and was very fresh. The wife told us she did not want to visit the scene because it reminded her too much of a similar cattle mutilation of one of their herd from one year prior. She remained in the truck but her husband and grandchildren went to look. When the grandchildren came back, one of them, with an astonished expression, said that it looked like someone had removed a “box” out of the cow’s rear end.
After talking with the mutilated cow owners, we contacted the Twin Falls County records department and requested copies of the investigation, both for these 3 cows and the mutilation that had occurred 1 year previous.
Within 24 hours we were told that both investigations are still “open” and that there were no plans to close them in the near future. It is safe to assume, given the sensational nature of these types of incidents, that the Sheriff’s department will keep this information as quiet as possible.
Currently, we are trying to arrange a meeting with the rider who discovered the carcasses. We are hopeful that he might be willing to share his story along with images of the 3 cattle that were killed.
