The Arizona Republic
Sept. 12, 2008 06:51 PM
There's a sense of timelessness as you travel across northeastern Arizona.
The high desert of the Navajo Reservation looks, you imagine, much the same as it did a hundred years ago. Or a thousand. Maybe a million.
The drive to the village of Red Lake, on U.S. 160 east of Tuba City, takes you past breathtaking vistas, geological oddities and fossilized dinosaur footprints.
Things to note along the way:
Dinosaur Tracks: When it's quiet, and you turn your back to the roadside stands and parking area, you can almost see giant therapod dinosaurs tromping across the rock-strewn desert a few miles west of Tuba City. The widely exposed Kayenta Formation holds a mishmash of dinosaur tracks, which were impressed in the soft mud of a vast floodplain 200 million years ago. After pondering the immensity of time, you can browse the jewelry stands near the parking area. Look for the tracks about 5 miles east of U.S. 89 and about a quarter mile north of U.S. 160, along the road that leads to Moenave. Free.
Tuba City: You can't help but wonder about the origin of this Navajo community's name. You might imagine someone like Professor Harold Hill swinging by in the 19th century and hornswoggling the residents with grandiose promises of their own marching band. Actually, the community was named for the Hopi leader Tuba (aka Tuvi or Toova), originally from Oraibi. Tuba, who sometimes accompanied Mormon missionary Jacob Hamblin, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1870s. He died in 1887.
Navajo Mountain: As you continue east on U.S. 160, your eyes are drawn to the low, dark silhouette of Navajo Mountain, which straddles the Utah-Arizona line about 90 miles north of Tuba City. The sacred mountain, about 10,400 feet high, is known as Naatsis'áán to the Diné (Navajo people) and plays a prominent role in stories about the Navajo people's origin. During the 1860s, the Army operated a heliograph station on the isolated mountain, enabling soldiers to signal other outposts with mirrors.
The high desert of the Navajo Reservation looks, you imagine, much the same as it did a hundred years ago. Or a thousand. Maybe a million.
The drive to the village of Red Lake, on U.S. 160 east of Tuba City, takes you past breathtaking vistas, geological oddities and fossilized dinosaur footprints.
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Things to note along the way:
Dinosaur Tracks: When it's quiet, and you turn your back to the roadside stands and parking area, you can almost see giant therapod dinosaurs tromping across the rock-strewn desert a few miles west of Tuba City. The widely exposed Kayenta Formation holds a mishmash of dinosaur tracks, which were impressed in the soft mud of a vast floodplain 200 million years ago. After pondering the immensity of time, you can browse the jewelry stands near the parking area. Look for the tracks about 5 miles east of U.S. 89 and about a quarter mile north of U.S. 160, along the road that leads to Moenave. Free.
Tuba City: You can't help but wonder about the origin of this Navajo community's name. You might imagine someone like Professor Harold Hill swinging by in the 19th century and hornswoggling the residents with grandiose promises of their own marching band. Actually, the community was named for the Hopi leader Tuba (aka Tuvi or Toova), originally from Oraibi. Tuba, who sometimes accompanied Mormon missionary Jacob Hamblin, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1870s. He died in 1887.
Navajo Mountain: As you continue east on U.S. 160, your eyes are drawn to the low, dark silhouette of Navajo Mountain, which straddles the Utah-Arizona line about 90 miles north of Tuba City. The sacred mountain, about 10,400 feet high, is known as Naatsis'áán to the Diné (Navajo people) and plays a prominent role in stories about the Navajo people's origin. During the 1860s, the Army operated a heliograph station on the isolated mountain, enabling soldiers to signal other outposts with mirrors.
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