Howe's Tank Petroglyphs 
Our
daypacks thumped rhythmically against our backs as we followed
the chain of waypoints loaded into the GPS unit. We
were crossing a lava flow on a high plateau in the Mojave,
about thirty miles east of Barstow. A hawk was circling;
a coyote had just loped off to eye us suspiciously from
a jumble of black volcanic basalt. Where were we
going? We really had no idea! Oh, we had coordinates
plotted, but what would be found at that location was a
mystery. Our research indicated that there was something
there that probably related to native Americans. Beyond
that we were clueless.
To
arrive at this state of total cluelessness we had set off
well before dawn and driven to Newberry Springs, arriving
in time for sunrise. We then threaded our way south
up Kane Wash. Recent rains had not been kind to the
wash, and we appreciated the Jeep's tenacity. Our
first stop was an impressive box canyon that Bill Mann
refers to as the Grand Canyon of the Rodmans in his book Guide
to 50 Interesting and Mysterious Sites in the Mojave, Volume
1. From there we looked in on Kane Spring and
the nearby arrastre. We had planned to stop at Willis
Well, but the No Trespassing signs were up. A
quick trip along Camp Rock Road took us to the Rodman Petroglyph
site again, and this time we photographed the rock foundations
that are enclosed by the fenced off area above the petroglyphs. Then
it was time to head off to our mystery location. Thanks
to our early start in the morning we arrived at our trailhead
about an hour before noon. We were quietly confident. After
all, our research had resulted in petroglyph or village
site finds on our last three trips.So
here we were. The skies were clear and the temperatures
in the mid-sixties. We were now closing in on our
final waypoint. As Niki continued down a small stream
bed, I climbed up the bank to explore. Soon my radio
crackled with the information that Niki had found some
petroglyphs on boulders along the stream. As I started
to work back toward her, she came back on with the shout
of a real discovery! What we had found was a spot
called Howe's Tank. This site has received very little
notoriety. There are a few pictures on the Petroglyphs.us site,
and Bill Mann has a page on it in the book mentioned above. His
GPS location is not accurate and several of the pictures
he has are upside down. So it has
been something of a mystery to us until now!
The
stream bed that Niki had been following abruptly ended
at the top of a twenty foot drop down vertical cliffs of volcanic
basalt. At the base of this cliff is a natural tank. Surrounding
the tank to the east and west are hundreds of petroglyph
panels. In a few spots the red ochre of pictographs
can still be seen. The beauty and solitude of this
spot cannot be described. There was virtually no
vandalism. We spent hours crawling among the boulders
and finding new petroglyphs at every turn. Later
we explored the surrounding area and found what appeared
to be rock foundations for brush huts. The petroglyphs
continue down the streambed all the way to a truly magnificent
drop-off into a spectacular canyon, one that we called
the Grander Canyon of the Rodmans so it wouldn't get confused
with Bill Mann's spot! On the way back we found a
spot above the tank that had numerous flakes of jasper
and jasp-agate that were the by-product of arrowhead
or tool making. After photographing them we put them
back. Maybe you'll find them. At
least now we know why nobody has given directions to this
spot. It's a rare place. There is a magic about
it, and a dignified majesty. Since it sits in the
middle of a wilderness area and involves a hike to
get to it, it is relatively safe. We won't be
the ones to break the spell and give directions to it. But
if we could find it so can you! Happy hunting! Is
it worth the effort? Check out the pictures below
and decide for yourself!
See Howe's
Tank Revisitied & More for our trip back to the tank.