City of Rocks Historic Resources Study

Awareness that this is a special place is the constant thread running through the history of the City of Rocks, from the time of American Indian use and habitation to the current debate raging about how best to perpetuate, enjoy, and honor the area's scenic, geological, and historical resources.

Beyond this overriding constant are rich ironies that effectively illustrate westerners' changing demands on land and water resources. The City of Rocks was once at the crossroads of transcontinental travel. It is now on one of the back roads of America, accessed only by those who seek it, who leave the interstate highway system, and travel along ever-narrowing roads, through ever shrinking communities.

The historically significant and much-revered axel grease graffiti of those emigrants who advertized "I was here" — in Oregon Territory, at the border of Mexico, three months from home and two months from safety is joined by the less significant and often-impugned chalk stains and bolts of modern climbers. These more ephemeral stamps also advertise "I was here"; yet Here, now, means Up not West. And the Why of being Here relates to pleasure, to thrill, to recreation rather than to economic imperative and the search for livelihood. A similar shift in land values has occurred throughout much of the scenic West.

Despite over a century of land legislation, agricultural innovations, and reclamation projects designed to conquer and to green the semi-arid West, the City of Rocks accords with Fremont's 1843 assessment of land where grazing rather than farming "would claim a high place." What was adequate water for emigrants and their stock proved inadequate for farmers and their crops. What was a tolerable climate for those passing through, quickly, in August proved intolerable for those hit by the heavy frosts of September and the frequent snows of October.

Intensive cultivation of the lands adjacent to the Raft River and its tributaries, from the 1870s to the present, has dramatically altered the physical landscape. This land has been leveled and cleared of sagebrush. The willow that once lined the Raft River, providing sustenance for the beaver and shade for the emigrant wagons, has been cleared. The once-volatile Raft River no longer reaches the Snake, drained by extensive irrigation ditches and deep-well irrigation. To a large degree, fields of grain, alfalfa, potatoes, and beets have replaced the early surplus of sage and bunch grass. The City of Rocks stands in stark contrast to this modern landscape. Within the reserve, evidence of historic use and occupation is found in faint shadows rather than the harsh lines of ditch, field, and town: a worn inscription; hints of a wagon road; a crumbled foundation; indistinct changes in vegetation, indicating a former fence line and planted field.