If you look carefully near the center of the photograph, you can see saw marks where someone was trying to cut the artifact out of the ledge.
Is it really worth it?
Do the crime... you WILL do the time
The photos are not related to the news releases below, but are from my own observations in the field; unfortunately, the vandalism is not that uncommon.
The photo below on the left shows where vandals have painted graffiti over numerous petroglyphs, and the photo on the right shows evidence of digging all around the area.
Do the crime... you WILL do the time
Articles on Theft or vandalism of archaeological sites in Nevada
Oct 06, 2006 Las Vegas Review-Journal
BLM grudge cited as motive in fire
Calico Basin Vandalism
Berkley seeks funds to beef up ranger patrols
By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNALThe arsonists who set fire to Red Spring boardwalk in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area last month probably held a grudge against the Bureau of Land Management, a BLM official said Thursday.
Bob Taylor, assistant field manager for the BLM's National Landscape Conservation System, said he's hopeful that evidence collected at the scene and tips received by investigators will lead to the arrests of those who ignited a 150-foot stretch of the interpretive boardwalk causing an estimated $200,000 in damage. The repair cost could be cut in half if volunteer labor is used.
"We've got some leads. ... There's a possibility these people were really disgruntled at the BLM," Taylor said while escorting Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., on a tour of the charred boardwalk near Calico Basin, two miles west of the Las Vegas Beltway.
He declined to elaborate on specifics of the investigation other than to say there's a "good chance" the arsonists will be arrested. He said they went out of their way to haul an ignitable substance to a distant section of the boardwalk in the early morning hours on Sept. 27.
"Their intent was to do a lot of damage and make BLM look bad," he said. Click here to go to photos
Berkley visited the site to announce her effort in Congress to seek funding to beef up ranger patrols at Red Rock Canyon and other national conservation areas including rock-art-rich Sloan Canyon on the Las Vegas Valley south rim.
While no recent vandalism has occurred at Sloan Canyon, someone bent on destroying historic rock art hiked to a lofty wind cave in Red Rock Canyon last month and used the sharp edge of a rock to deface a panel of 45 charcoal-painted images depicting men wearing cowboy hats on horseback and women and children holding hands.
The images, including those of horses, pack mules and deer had graced the Sandstone Quarry area for more than a century.
"Our rangers can't be everywhere at once and they need some help," said Berkley, noting, "I grew up in Las Vegas and this park (Red Rock Canyon) is very important to me."
She said she is working with other representatives in a bipartisan caucus to secure funding and long-lasting protection for Red Rock Canyon and other public lands in the National Landscape Conservation System.
Taylor said there are four rangers with another on the way to patrol a combined 240,000 acres in Red Rock and Sloan canyons.
Funding for a sixth ranger is expected in the future but even with that he'd prefer having a ranger staff that's double or triple that to meet the demands of the fast-growing Las Vegas Valley.
Berkley also intends to seek legislation to increase penalties for vandalism, arson, off-road vehicle damage and desert dumping.
Money collected from entrance fees at Red Rock Canyon is used for interpretive and educational programs, facility upgrades, maintenance and services.
It also supports the nonprofit workforce that collects the fees and provides some interpretive personnel.
Berkley said money for additional ranger staff should come from the BLM's budget, not from the fee money.
"That money goes to Red Rock Canyon," she said. "It just doesn't stretch as far as it needs to go."
According to Red Rock's manager, Mark Rekshynskyj, the conservation area was short five staff positions in August.
Sept 16, 2006 Las Vegas Review-Journal
RED ROCK CANYON: Vandals deface rock art
45 charcoal images of 19th century people, animals damaged
By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Scratch marks slice across a charcoal image that appears to be a person wearing a cowboy hat painted on a cave wall in the Sandstone Quarry area of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Other damaged images include horses, pack mules and deer.
Photos by Clint Karlsen.
Archaeologist Mark Boatwright points Friday to a rock art panel in a Red Rock Canyon wind cave that was marred recently by vandals.
Some time during the past few weeks, vandals hiked to a lofty wind cave in Red Rock Canyon and defaced a panel of charcoal-painted rock art that had graced a remote part of the Sandstone Quarry area for more than a century, a federal archaeologist said Friday.
In all, some 45 images depicting men wearing cowboy hats on horseback, women and children holding hands, horses, pack mules and a deer were scribbled over with the sharp edge of a rock, as if someone tried to erase the work of a Mojave Desert artist from the 1880s or 1890s, archaeologist Mark Boatwright said.
"For all intents and purposes, it doesn't look like they left one glyph untouched. It's a shame," said Boatwright, who works for the National Landscape Conservation System at the Bureau of Land Management's Las Vegas field office.
"This is somebody being mean-spirited or vindictive for one reason or another," Boatwright said after descending a tricky ledge above the shallow cave and gazing at the marred, 30-foot-long panel.
"One notch above a grapefruit is what you've got to be to do something like that," he said, referring to the work of the vandals.
Investigators believe a couple of people attacked the panel based on initials they tried to etch into the sandstone wall, Boatwright said. One of the letters appears to be a "K."
Boatwright said it's unclear if the charcoal pictographs of "anthromorphs" and "zoomorphs" -- images of humans and animals -- were painted by American Indians or white settlers, perhaps Mormon pioneers.
Regardless, he said, the vandals deliberately attacked a "shared heritage."
"We have high hopes it can be restored," Boatwright said.
The damage was noticed by a volunteer steward who visited the cave and reported it about the same time that state and federal authorities were putting out a call for more volunteer monitors to help curb a growing problem with rock art vandalism on public lands.
"If something isn't done to stop the damage and educate the public about the importance of cultural resources, Nevada's historical heritage will rapidly vanish and prehistoric archaeological evidence will be lost forever," said Sali Underwood, site stewardship coordinator for the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, in a Sept. 6 statement seeking volunteers.
The Howard Hughes Corp. also has launched a volunteer stewardship program aimed at protecting rock art in its private Summerlin West holdings at Little Red Rocks, adjacent to the Red Rock National Conservation Area.
Bob Taylor, assistant field manager for the BLM's National Landscape Conservation System, said the problem with graffiti taggers and vandalism of public resources spans the Las Vegas Valley from urban areas to Mount Charleston.
"They leave their mark downtown and out here and carve their names into trees up on the mountain," Taylor said Friday, hiking with Boatwright through Sandstone Quarry to reach Prayer Cave.
"They do it for different reasons. I can't see the logic in it. They come all the way out here to enjoy the environment and then muck it up."
Taylor said the pictographs, which are paintings, and petroglyphs, or rock art etchings, are part of the Southwest's prehistoric and historic culture. "We can't replace it. Our biggest goal is to educate the public about the resource."
Boatwright said vandalizing sites covered by the Archaeological Resource Protection Act carries up to a $20,000 fine per violation and 10 years in jail. Most people arrested for such violations are convicted on multiple counts.
About 1.2 million people per year visit the 195,000-acre national conservation area.
"The public is a big part of the solution," Taylor said. "A small part of the public is the problem. It's incumbent upon us to educate them as partners in the solution."
Sally Billings, a site steward and community college anthropology teacher hiking the Sandstone Quarry area Friday, said the vandalism saddened her.
"I want to cry. People need to be aware of the importance of preserving the history of the area. Once it's gone, it's gone. It's a great disrespect for the people who came before us."
Looter of Indian cave loses appeal of $2.5 million fine
Government to seek man's assets, including a house, to settle penalty
Saturday, April 24, 2004
By MARTIN GRIFFITHASSOCIATED PRESSRENO -- An Oregon man has lost a bid to overturn a $2.5 million fine for what federal officials say is the worst case of American Indian cave looting in Nevada history.
A civil penalty handed down to Jack Lee Harelson, 63, of Grants Pass, Ore., in December 2002 by an Interior Department administrative law judge was upheld on appeal. Justice Department lawyers plan to seek Harelson's assets, including a house, to settle the penalty -- the fourth-largest ever assessed for archaeological theft.
Federal officials acknowledge the former securities agent probably will be unable to pay most of the fine because he awaits trial in Oregon on charges of conspiring to kill a judge, a state police investigator and others involved in the looting case.
"We will go after what he has," said Pat Barker, a Bureau of Land Management archaeologist. "But he's in jail and has nowhere near those assets. Harelson is being held without bail in the Josephine County Jail in Grants Pass awaiting a scheduled June trial in Medford, Ore.
"The $2.5 million fine sets a precedent that looting these sites is a serious thing. It's mainly for the deterrent value," Barker said. The fine was upheld April 5 by the Interior Board of Land Appeals but not announced until last week by the BLM. Harelson was first convicted in an Oregon court in 1996 on charges stemming from the illegal excavation years earlier of an ancient grave site on the Black Rock Desert, 140 miles north of Reno.
Before it was looted in the early 1980s, Elephant Mountain Cave contained a 10,000-year record of human life in Northern Nevada, including that of members of the Paiute tribe. Harelson was accused of removing the bodies of a girl and boy, baskets and other artifacts, and burying the bodies in his back yard.
More than 2,000 artifacts were later recovered, including 10,000-year-old sandals that possibly were the oldest footwear found on earth, Barker said. The ancient remains and other artifacts were found on Harelson's property in Grants Pass. "There's no way to reconstruct the history of the site thanks to what he did," Barker said. "It's a loss for everybody." Harelson has maintained his innocence, but he acknowledged digging a "test hole" and removing some artifacts.
By the time Harelson was arrested in 1995, the statute of limitations on the illegal excavation had expired. Harelson was tried and convicted under Oregon law for possessing stolen property and abusing a corpse. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $20,000.
The Oregon Supreme Court later overturned the corpse abuse conviction after determining the statute of limitations for it had expired, too. In January Harelson was arrested at his home on suspicion of planning a murder-for-hire plot against five people, including an Oregon state police sergeant who worked on the looting case.
Harelson was charged with solicitation to commit murder after he is alleged to have struck a deal with an undercover agent posing as a hit man.
January 19, 2004
Nevada man last of five sentenced in stolen relics case
ASSOCIATED PRESSLAS VEGAS (AP) - A Nevada man has been sentenced to prison for his role in the excavation and theft of more than 11,000 archaeological artifacts in Nevada and California, authorities said.
The sentencing Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas ended what officials called one of the largest cases of archaeological theft ever investigated. The five-person gang was blamed for $518,000 worth of damage at 13 sites between late 1997 and December 2001.
Along with five months in prison and five months of home electronic monitoring after his release, Kevin Peterson, 43, of Overton, was ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution, U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said. Peterson had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and conceal archaeological resources and government property.
David Peeler, 53, of Oahu, Hawaii, was sentenced Wednesday to five years probation and six months home detention with electronic monitoring, and ordered to pay more than $56,000 in restitution, Bogden said. Peeler, who also lived in Las Vegas, had pleaded guilty to excavation of archaeological resources and aiding and abetting.
Deanne Wilkie, 44, of Carson City, was sentenced on Jan. 12 to five years probation and six months of home detention with electronic monitoring, and ordered to pay $19,000 in restitution, Bogden said. Wilkie had pleaded guilty to unlawful receipt of archaeological resources removed from public lands, and aiding and abetting.
Wilkie is the former wife of Bobbie Wilkie, 45, of Oklahoma City, who was sentenced in December to 37 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $102,000 in restitution. Bogden called that one of the longest prison sentences ever in a case involving stolen artifacts.
Frank Embrey, 54, of Henderson, was sentenced in August to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $86,000 in restitution for his guilty pleas to the same charges.
Las Vegas SUN main pageOriginal Story
December 11, 2003
Relic Looters Get Prison
Associated Press
More than 10,000 artifacts taken from historic sites throughout the West have been recovered as part of one of the largest archaeological cases ever investigated, authorities said. The two-year investigation, dubbed Operation Indian Rocks, has led to a ring of relic hunters who were stealing remnants of the past, including arrowheads, ancient corncobs, hammer-stones and clay figurine fragments, the Las Vegas Sun reported Thursday.The last major defendant in the case, Nevada resident Bobbie Wilkie, has pleaded guilty to two counts of excavation and removal of archaeological resources and aiding and abetting. His sentencing was scheduled for Monday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.
His wife, Deanne, has pleaded guilty to similar charges and will be sentenced Jan. 12, federal officials said.
A third defendant, Frank Embrey, already has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $86,196 in restitution.
Court documents show the couple and Embrey conspired to "unlawfully excavate, remove, damage and otherwise alter and deface archaeological resources located on designated, federal public lands" from December 1997 to December 2001.
The group used probes, trowels, buckets, sifting screens, shovels and other tools to search for items on public lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and Nellis Air Force Base. A total of 13 sites were damaged, including some in Death Valley National Recreation Area, near Winnemucca Lake and a desert lake area in southern Nevada controlled by the Air Force.
The defendants displayed the items at their homes and sold some of them, according to the federal indictment. Authorities estimate the items taken had a commercial value of $21,600 and that restoration and repair of damaged sites would cost more than $100,000.
Historic sites on public lands are protected by the 1906 Antiquities Act and the 1979 Archaeological Resource Protection Act, which makes it illegal to destroy or excavate these areas. Once an artifact has been removed or damaged much of its historical value is lost, said Peter Ossorio, an assistant U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, who has prosecuted relic cases. "It's like somebody robbing a victim after the victim has already been mugged, "Ossorio said. "Once these items are removed from the site you don't really ever get them back. Even if every single piece is returned much of the historical value is gone."
Vandalism threatens rock art
(Carson City, NV)
Evidence of human habitation dates back 10,000 years in Storey County's Lagomarsino Canyon, where petroglyphs tell a tale of people who once camped there. The ancient art, though prevalent, is poorly understood. Vandalism now threatens the integrity of the site, and the images, which may never be deciphered, could be lost forever, said Dr. Alanah Woody, executive director of the Nevada Rock Art Foundation. She's leading the effort to preserve, record, and protect the petroglyphs, which she says are one of the largest concentrations in the western United States. "The site is one-quarter mile long, a basalt rim with talus below," she said. "We've divided the area into 10 or 11 sections and photographed 700 panels." A panel is a rock face bearing petroglyphs.
On a map at her office at the Nevada State Museum, Woody pointed to a small portion that's been photographed and documented.
"I estimate that's about one-tenth of the total site," she said. One large rock can have more than one panel, and there probably between 5,000 to 10,000 panels at the site, she said. "The site is on the boundary between the Washoe and Paiute territories," she said. "Both groups used the area, but the Washoe traditionally claimed it." Storey County owns the property. It is remote so the county hasn't been able to justify development until now. Storey officials are supportive of any efforts, but due to budget restrictions, can't offer financial help. And since 2000, the area has seen a dramatic increase in vandalism, Woody said. "That was the main impetus for creation of the Nevada Rock Art Foundation," she said. "People respond to rock art, but they don't feet they can do anything to preserve the sites. The foundation is an outlet for them. We train volunteers to help with site recordings and public education. Once people are given the chance to help, they're all over it." The private nonprofit organization operates primarily through private funding and membership dues, but federal and local officials have also contributed to the effort, she said. "NDOT gave us break on an aerial map and loaned us the mapping equipment," she said. "And Dan Kaffer donated the film. The work is done through volunteers, and that's our biggest expense."
Kaffer is with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Services. The next step is creating a stewardship program, with volunteers committing to visiting the site every three to four months. "They will count visitors and make observations, noting any changes at the site," she said. She said the foundation is interested in the many sites throughout Nevada.
"Nevada is an exciting place," she said. "In the present and the past, Nevada has had the most interesting, creative people."
Woody received her bachelor's and master's degrees in archaeology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and her doctorate from the University of Southampton, England. She is the collections manager at the state museum.
Susie Vasquez, Reporter for the Nevada Appeal
September 18, 2003
Missing petroglyphs found in Reno yard
Las Vegas Review-Journal
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO -- Three petroglyphs stolen from federal land on Peavine Peak have been recovered from the front yard landscaping of a Reno home. Authorities said a tip to the Secret Witness hot line led to the recovery of the 800-year-old rock art Tuesday. "We got the rocks back. They are safe and in our custody at this point," said Dave Loomis, acting chief of the U.S. Forest Service's Carson Ranger District.
Loomis declined to identify the people found in possession of the artifacts until the investigation is completed. No arrests have been made. Authorities said those responsible could be prosecuted under the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act, which carries potential penalties of two years in prison and $20,000 in fines. The petroglyphs, chipped onto boulders of up to 300 pounds in weight, are thought to have been removed by several individuals using hand tools, Loomis said. Todd Irvine, government affairs coordinator for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, said he was surprised the items were recovered so quickly and offered the colony's thanks to the tipster. The tipster could receive the $4,000 reward offered for information leading to recovery of the petroglyphs and the arrest of those responsible for their theft. "Good news for a change," Irvine told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "The cultural importance is very significant. I don't think you can measure it in terms of money." The three petroglyphs were stolen from an undisclosed location on federal land in August, officials said. Authorities had said two petroglyphs were missing: one depicting a man and the other a bow-wielding Indian hunter stalking a bighorn sheep. A third petroglyph of a hunter that authorities previously had not realized had been stolen also was discovered at the Reno residence.
September 17, 2003
Theft of petroglyph shameful
Editorial
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
A lot of people can breathe a sigh of relief after the recovery of three Indian rock carvings stolen from the Peavine Peak area. The carvings are national and state treasures. We're glad to have them back. Anyone concerned about preserving the past has to be disturbed that others go out of their way to remove 800-year-old artifacts. Carved into 300-pound boulders, they weren't exactly easy to carry off. And their location was undisclosed. It's because of incidents like this that preservationists are opposed to opening the historic areas to public use. The pieces portraying hunting scenes are valuable to archaeologists and historians. In fact, a coalition offered a reward for information leading to recovery of the pieces. But the pieces have special significance for Native Americans.
Descendants of those who carved the pieces, Indians mourned the loss. A Washoe Tribe leader called the theft contempt for creation, this land and its sacred heritage. For him they are evidence of our existence, symbols of the Eternal and Unseen.
Everyone is harmed by lack of care for public treasures. Luckily, a Good Samaritan reported suspicious activity and another called Secret Witness after spotting the pieces in a Reno yard. They deserve our thanks.
September 16, 2003
Petroglyph thieves steal part of history
Reno Gazette-Journal
Jeff DeLong
About 800 years after Indian artists chipped the images of a man and a hunter and his prey on rocks at Peavine Peak, the priceless native art has been stolen, officials said Monday. The U.S. Forest Service, Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and the NEVADA ROCK ART FOUNDATION are offering $4,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the theft and recovery of two missing petroglyphs. The thefts, which occurred in August at an undisclosed location on federal land on Peavine, are described by some as an affront to Northern Nevada's cultural heritage. These messages are the essential elements and evidence of our existence and we view their theft as a reflection of the ultimate contempt for creation, this land and its sacred heritage, said Brian Wallace, chairman of the Washoe Tribe. It is an unutterable crime against the eternal and unseen. The thefts were discovered after someone reported suspicious activity in the area, said Dave Loomis, acting chief of the Forest Service's Carson Ranger District. The pieces of rock art are chipped on small boulders. One depicts a man and the other is a bow-wielding hunter stalking a bighorn sheep. These are pretty important things that have been lost, Loomis said. They've senselessly stolen a priceless part of our heritage. Forest Service archaeologist Terry Birk said the two items are excellent examples of rock art. Such petroglyphs are often associated with hunting blinds and might have helped ancient hunters in their chase for big game, Birk said. Others said the petroglyphs may have been used by shamans or religious leaders in ceremonies. This loss is a real tragedy, said Alanah Woody, executive director of the NEVADA ROCK ART FOUNDATION. Removal of the petroglyphs is a violation of the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act and is punishable by fines of up to $20,000 or two years imprisonment. Vandalism and theft of items from historic sites in the Truckee Meadows region is a growing problem, officials said. Authorities ask that anyone with information call Secret Witness at 322-4900.
September 16, 2003
Reward offered for stolen Reno petroglyphs
Associated Press
A $4,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of thieves who stole two petroglyphs from Peavine Peak northwest of Reno. Officials said the two petroglyphs chipped on small boulders are about 800 years old. One depicts a man and the other a hunter and his prey. "These messages are the essential elements and evidence of our existence and we view their theft as a reflection of the ultimate contempt for creation, this land and its sacred heritage," said Brian Wallace, chairman of the Washoe Tribe." It is an unutterable crime against the eternal and unseen." The reward is being offered by the Washoe Tribe, U.S. Forest Service, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and the Nevada Rock Art Foundation. The thefts occurred in August at an undisclosed location on federal land on Peavine and were discovered after someone reported suspicious activity in the area, said Dave Loomis, acting chief of the Forest Service's Carson Ranger District. "These are pretty important things that have been lost," Loomis said." They've senselessly stolen a priceless part of our heritage." Removal of petroglyphs is a violation of the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act and is punishable by up to two years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
Tuesday, October 20, 1998
St. George man sent to prison for 10 months for looting artifacts
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- A 37-year-old St. George man whose childhood curiosity turned into an obsession has been sent to prison for 10 months for damaging and taking stone artifacts. John C. Hunter said he first began searching for arrowheads on his parents' property in Malibu, Calif. The fascination grew, however, and he ultimately was arrested for looting a prehistoric village in Big Round Valley and a rock shelter in the Santa Clara River Gorge, both in Washington County. "My intention was to find some neat Indian artifacts," Hunter said during his sentencing in U.S. District Court on Friday. "I did not at all realize the seriousness of it. I am truly sorry ... that I disturbed something that wasn't mine." Hunter apologized to American Indians "living and dead" for disturbing sites "just so I could possess one of their artifacts." Hunter pleaded guilty to violating federal archaeological resource laws and damaging government property. The village is on Bureau of Land Management property, and the shelter is in the Dixie National Forest.He surrendered all of his collection, even items he had legally gathered from his family's private property.
Defense attorney Richard Mauro contended Hunter and his friends acted on the "spur of the moment." He discounted testimony that Hunter provided the equipment, led the other men to the sites, and planned to do their digging and sifting at night by candlelight to avoid detection. Jenkins agreed and refused to enhance Hunter's sentence for being a leader. He also dramatically reduced the value of the archaeological damage caused by Hunter, allotting $2,000 for "aesthetics" instead of the $34,238 sought by Dance. Those calculations brought Hunter's sentencing range down to 8 to 14 months. The judge ordered Hunter to serve three years on probation when his 10-month sentence is completed. He also must repay the $9,661 in restoration costs. Three men were indicted for accompanying Hunter to the sites and helping him search. Kelby T. Chadburn, 29, of St. George, was sentenced to serve 8 months in prison; two others are awaiting sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Dance had argued for a stiffer sentence, saying that U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins should take into account the damage done to the sites. "He's not a casual archaeological resource looter. It's been his lifelong avocation," Dance said. Hunter was convicted in the mid-1980s of trespassing at a Chumash Indian burial site in California, Dance said. The indictments against Hunter alleged he looted the shelter in 1995 and the village in 1993. About 15 arrowheads and a partial spear point possessed by Hunter likely came from the sites, testified U.S. Forest Service investigator David Griffel.
Friday, February 27, 1998
Security at issue after Indian rock art, caves damaged by looters
Associated Press
FALLON -- Fallon Paiute-Shoshone tribal officials plan to meet with federal agencies to discuss security for historic sites near Fallon and the Stillwater Mountains that have been disturbed. Tribal Council Chairman Alvin Moyle last week toured two caves with officials from the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge where rock art was damaged and digging took place. Moyle said holes about 2 feet in diameter were found in seven spots, apparently dug by someone looking for Indian artifacts on public land. "There's absolutely signs of digging," he said, noting at one time there was a market for skulls. The petroglyphs defaced depicted a bird and what looked like a net. "You ask yourself, `Why would they do such a thing? What did they accomplish?' " Moyle would not say what sort of sites were disturbed, due to the sensitive nature of the issue. He said publicity of American Indian burials or habitation sites only brings more people who seek them out. The latest damage was reported to him by a tribal member who visited the caves recently with relatives and discovered someone had been digging and scratching off ancient rock art, which dates back thousands of years. Stillwater refuge Manager Dan Walsworth said that it had not been officially determined if the sites were on property administered by the Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He passed along the tribe's concerns and what he saw to the Carson City district office of the BLM for possible investigation of a crime. Walsworth said many caves and rock shelters have been found around Fallon and the Stillwater Mountains. One of the most famous produced the Spirit Cave Man, a mummified person believed to be 9,000 years old. The Fallon tribe has claimed the remains as a Paiute ancestor, but they have yet to be turned over by the Nevada State Museum.Moyle said the only people allowed to visit historic Indian sites for research would be bona fide archaeologists with permits, and then only after consultations with the tribe. He said members of the Fallon tribe know where the archeological sites are located but would never disturb them. He makes the argument that anyone digging or defacing graves at a local cemetery would be arrested and disturbing Indian sites is no different. "We don't feel the burials should be bothered. It is something that should not be done," he said. The land where the burials are located once belonged to the tribe, before they were relocated to the Fallon reservation, he said. Now it falls to the federal land agencies to protect them. "Those hills are wide open and anybody can go wherever they want," he said. Anan Raymond, a regional archeologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland, Ore., said federal law makes it a felony to steal, vandalize, dig or run over historic Indian sites on any public property. Possible penalties include two years in jail and a fine of up to $20,000 for the first offense. Anyone caught looting sites also faces forfeiture of any vehicle or equipment used in the crime. "These people are ripping the pages out of books that are few and far between," Raymond said.
ROCKY TIMES FOR ROCK ART
Petroglyphs at Little Red Rock Canyon have withstood nature's elements but may not survive the forces of vandals.
Keith Rogers
Excerpt from Review journal story by Keith Rogers April 29, 1997
Now more than 150 years later, the urbanization of Las Vegas is leaving its mark on canyon walls.
On a visit last week to Little Red Rock Canyon, Jeff Rhoads, advanced planning manager for The Howard Hughes Corp.'s Summerlin Division, noticed that vandals in the last six months had defaced the sandstone walls near some of the petroglyphs. The vandals used white spray paint to write, "Lance," scribble ethnic slurs and draw a sexually explicit scene. "It's really sad, now that there's all this paint and crud," Rhoads said. "There's a lot more graffiti here. These guys, Lance and company, have been pretty busy."
Red, white and blue paint was poured above some of the tenajas, and scraps of wood and chopped palm tree trunks had been hauled to the site as fuel for campfires. An empty Budweiser box was left behind, as were shell casings from bullets that had been shot at the petroglyphs, leaving them pocked and marred. Even though the Summerlin property has "No Trespassing" signs posted, the vastness of the area, which flanks Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, makes it difficult to patrol, Rhoads said. But he and Rolf believe a controlled-access, low-density development that incorporates the outcroppings as part of a design for a golf course or park would afford more protection to the ancient rock art than it has now. "Hopefully the plans will help police it if they develop it correctly," Rolf said. He said volunteers from a citizens group, the Nevada Historical Preservation Office an d the Bureau of Land Management are recording the Little Red Rock site for nomination in the National Register of Historical Places as an archaeological district. The designation would elevate awareness about the historical significance of the site, and possibly afford it more protection. Some 20,000 homes for 50,000 people are projected for Summerlin's western edge.
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