Cañon Pintado, meaning painted canyon, is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

of Native American

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

located in the East Four Mile Draw, south of Rangely in

Rio Blanco County, Colorado Rio Blanco County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,529. The county seat is Meeker. The name of the county is the Spanish language name for the White River which runs through it. H ...

. Led by

Ute Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute (band), an Australian jazz group * Ute (given name) * ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus * Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles * Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...

guides, the

Domínguez–Escalante expedition The Domínguez–Escalante Expedition was a Spanish Empire, Spanish journey of Spanish colonization of the Americas, exploration conducted in 1776 by two Franciscan priests, Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, to find an overl ...

, Spanish missionaries in search of a route to California in 1776, passed through this region as they moved north and then west into

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. The first Europeans to the area, they named it Cañon Pintado, meaning "painted canyon".Boddie, Caryn; Boddie, Peter. (1999) ''Hiking Colorado II.'' Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing for the American Hiking Society. pp. 181–182. .

Rock art

The rock art was probably made by people of the

Fremont culture The Fremont culture or Fremont people is a pre-Columbian archaeological culture which received its name from the Fremont River in the U.S. state of Utah, where the culture's sites were discovered by local indigenous peoples like the Navajo and Ute ...

(about AD 650–1150) and the

(about AD 1200–1881). No one has been able to positively identify the significance of the paintings, however, they were probably made to mark significant events or for religious purposes. The Fremont people were described in a Rangely Museum brochure:

The Fremont people built villages, farmed the valley areas and on high points located watchtowers. In hidden places on the cliffs are still found
cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...
s and granaries where they stored corn and seeds.
Petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s of corn stalks are at a number of these sites. Later the Utes hunted the area and used the valley until they were moved to a
reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...
in 1881.

There are many easily accessible rock art sites located just south of Rangely along Colorado Highway 139. However, there are thousands of well preserved sites in the immediate area, including numerous sites on County Road 23 and County Road 65.

Sun Dagger Site

There is evidence that some of the petroglyphs may be of astronomical significance. The markings may indicate the significance winter or summer solstice but more data is required to verify these results.

Historic places

Nearby are the following

National Register of Historic Places listings in Rio Blanco County, Colorado __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rio Blanco Count ...

, all three are prehistoric

sites:''National Register of Historic Places in Rio Blanco County''
American Dreams, Inc. Retrieved 2011-10-6. Prehistoric sites * Collage Shelter Site - dated from 500 - 1499 AD. * Carrot Men Pictograph Site - dated from 500 - 1499 AD. * Fremont Lookout Fortification Site - dated from 0 - 1499 AD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canon Pintado Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado Native American history of Colorado Protected areas of Rio Blanco County, Colorado Rock art in North America National Register of Historic Places in Rio Blanco County, Colorado

Rock art

Sun Dagger Site

Historic places

See also

References