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From Above: Utah, California, Colorado

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  • From Above: Utah, California, Colorado

Cliff Dwelling above River Floodplain

River House, San Juan River, San Juan County, Utah, 1998  |  45 x 53.5 x 1.75  |  $1,950

Near Bluff, Utah. Locally known as River House, this small and picturesque pueblo occupies an alcove above the San Juan River, which flows within 200 meters. The dry climate and overhanging rock have resulted in remarkable preservation of the prehistoric masonry.

Cliff Dwelling above River Floodplain, © Adriel Heisey
Cliff Dwelling above River Floodplain, © Adriel Heisey

I feel like I’d like to know the folks who lived in old places. Like there are these ceramics where you can see the person’s fingernail impressions. I’d like to know that person’s name.

—David Haynes, British expatriate living in southeastern Arizona

Human Figure Geoglyph with Fence

Blythe, California, 2003  |  43 x 53.5 x 1.75  |  $1,950

Visit this Place

Human figure intaglio, or geoglyph, on an alluvial bench near the Colorado River north of Blythe, California. Scraped into the Pleistocene-era desert pavement, these figures are on public land, and are fenced to protect them from further damage by vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Several others are nearby.

Human Figure Geoglyph with Fence, © Adriel Heisey
Human Figure Geoglyph with Fence, © Adriel Heisey

A historic landscape contributes to the cultural history of its time. And to really allow people to understand that, you bring people into it, you explain it to them, and then you let them use it. You don’t put it behind a fence.

—Baker Morrow, third-generation New Mexican and professor of landscape architecture

 

Pueblo Ruin with Mesa and Pinnacles

Chimney Rock Archaeological Area, Archuleta County, Colorado  |  55.5 x 65.5 x 1.75  |  $3,500

Visit this Place

The Chimney Rock Archaeological Area, now a national monument, is located west of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, in the San Juan National Forest. The Great House ruin in this image is related to the Chacoan culture by architectural style and artifacts, and its dramatic mesa top setting may be associated with the fact that the full moon rises between the chimneys as seen from the pueblo site every 18.6 years. This view is to the northeast on a winter evening at sunset, with the San Juan Mountains on the horizon.

Pueblo Ruin on Mesa with Pinnacles, © Adriel Heisey
Pueblo Ruin on Mesa with Pinnacles, © Adriel Heisey

I’ve no particular religion, but since I was a child, I have had special feelings to the land. I recall as a child sitting on a hill and feeling connected to a place. So when I’m at a site, the feeling of the site, the land, the earth, the eternal, is there.

—Jeanie Marion, historian and author

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  • Location Chimney Rock National Monument
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