Photo by Linda Kor Joe Winfield, a landscape architect for the National Park Service, shows where Holbrook’s petroglyph park is located northwest of town.
By Linda Kor –
During a meeting held March 3 regarding Holbrook’s Hidden Cove Petroglyph & Ranch Ruins Park, it was noted that the park, located northwest of Holbrook near the Hidden Cove Golf Course, might be a diamond in the rough for tourism to the area.
The park contains many petroglyphs, but offers little more than a crude pathway and a couple of benches for resting as you move through the park. Recently the park was locked up due to vandalism of some of the engrav-ings, but now there’s new hope of preserving the site and making it available to the public.
A service grant that was applied for in 2008 has been approved for assistance from the National Park Service, and the first in a series of meetings was held last Thursday.
In a presentation by Darlene Brinkerhoff, a local expert in the field of historic and prehistoric rock art, she explained how the area is valuable not only tourism, but also to researchers trying to piece together the puzzle of the area’s history.
Brinkerhoff has been studying Southwestern archaeological fieldwork and petroglyphs (or rock art) for more than 30 years, and began directing her own petroglyph research projects in northeastern Arizona after realizing that other areas in the state were being recorded and taken care of, but that this region had been overlooked.
“Rock art can be prehistoric or historic, and can be pecked, scratched, abraded, incised or painted, which are called pictographs,” stated Brinkerhoff, adding that rock art exists in every culture all over the world.
According to Brinkerhoff, petroglyphs were created as a written ethnographic affiliation, with some repre-senting astronomical, calendrical, solar or equinox markers. “We have historical army, historical Spanish and historical Navajo rock all within our vicinity of Holbrook,” she noted.
Brinkerhoff believes that some of the best rock art in the state is here in the northeastern quarter of Arizona. “I have seen rock art all over the state, and we have some of the best right here in our backyards. This has been confirmed by other petroglyph research assistants I have worked with,” stated Brinkerhoff.
Holbrook’s petroglyph park contains both prehistoric and historic history. Most of the petroglyphs at the golf course are from what is called the Pueblo II era, which ran from 900 to 1100 A.D.
Brinkerhoff believes that the city has an opportunity to benefit and generate funds from the park if a few fac-tors are kept in mind. First, the city needs a management plan for the park. Second, a local docent (or educator) needs to be located who will educate the public about the need to preserve this ancient history and to teach proper etiquette in how to behave at a petroglyph site. Third, the site would need to be assessed to determine what is important for the tourist to see and what isn’t, something that would be determined by the content and condition of the various petroglyphs. Finally, access to the park would need to be controlled by fencing and gat-ing the area.
The petroglyphs at the Holbrook site have yet to be officially recorded, which is something Brinkerhoff of-fered to do with the assistance of students from either Holbrook High School or Northland Pioneer College.
“The site could be monitored on a periodic basis using each set of panel assessments to be able to see if van-dalism is taking place and perhaps catching any culprits. These recordings would also go into the state archives,” explained Brinkerhoff.
It is believed that the petroglyphs at the park were created by prehistoric people living along the Leroux Wash and the Little Colorado River, and there was once dry farming and field houses in the area near the park.
It was also noted by Joe Winfield, a landscape architect who works for the National Park Service, that the area surrounding the park offers an excellent opportunity for habitat restoration in conjunction with the sewage treatment pond. “The pond to the west of the petroglyph park hosts a habitat for birds, and the surrounding area offers tremendous cultural and recreational opportunities,” stated Winfield. He also sees it as a wonderful recrea-tional area for hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
The next meeting to discuss the park will be held at the park itself at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 9.
