Art lost in time is rediscovered

All around the Big Horn Basin, and throughout the wider western United States, are numerous cultural and heritage sites related to the Indigenous American tribes who once exclusively inhabited the lands. Medicine Wheel, in the Big Horn Mountains, has become a well-known and popular destination, but there still exist many lesser-known, but equally historic places.

One such place is tucked away just south of Greybull on land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. Pecked into a cliff wall, a story of great disappointment and hope emerges. These are the Greybull South Petroglyphs.

Originally discovered by early pioneers hoping to tame the “Wild West,” the artwork remained a secret in the area, known to just a few. Their beauty stood unmatched for years until 1962, when they were ‘rediscovered’ by the explorer Robert Edgar.

Under Edgar’s direction, panels of rock art were excavated and brought to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West where they were put on view. Following a lukewarm public reception, the pecked stone slabs were placed into storage.

By 2017, the slabs had been lost in a labyrinth of storage sheds for over 50 years. Greybull native and archaeologist Bonnie Lawrence-Smith took it upon herself to help return the artwork to its rightful place.

 “When they were excavated in 1962, the Center didn’t have a section dedicated to the Indigenous Americans that lived here far before us, but the curator Henry McCracken wanted to represent that part of the area’s history,” Lawrence-Smith explained. “He had previously hired Robert Edgar to survey the land in hopes of finding pieces of history to save.

“Once re-discovered, the petroglyphs were blasted off the face of the cliff in an attempt to save them from the vandalism that had already plagued the art.”

What archaeologists at the time didn’t know was the effect their actions had on the history: as the panels sat, un-cared for, they began deteriorating.

When the Bureau of Land Management contacted Lawrence-Smith about a similar occurrence involving an ichthyosaur fossil found near Lovell, she discovered the paperwork detailing the sale and removal of the petroglyphs. 

After a discussion between Greg Pierce, the museum’s curator, and the surrounding Indigenous American tribes, a decision to remove the sandstone slabs from the Center of the West’s custody was reached. 

“We cleaned them up and recorded every little detail we could find,” recalled Lawrence-Smith. “After making sure they would not be damaged during their trip to Laramie for further study, we sealed the boxes and said goodbye. It was a bittersweet moment: the art is beautiful, but they were going to be better preserved in Laramie.”

But once the panels were properly documented, a new question emerged: what next?

“Because the panels were removed from their original site, it isn’t possible to re-attach them to their original home,” said Spencer Pelton, an archaeologist with the State of Wyoming Department of Archaeology. “The damage done to
the rock art is too harsh to restore them to their original condition.”

Between the removal, loss and resurfacing of the pecked figures, the story told by the petroglyphs has since changed from the one the original artists hoped to tell.

“It was such a wild experience, seeing so many people trying to do right by the panels and history,” Lawrence-Smith said. “My hope is that they can be used as a stewardship for the kids of the next generation. When you remove them from where they are found, it disrupts the story and that really is what rock art is! Rock art tells a story. Whether or not we understand it, they are stories [and] they need to be preserved.

“Even if it isn’t our history, it is our heritage,
and it’s our obligation to protect it.”

The BLM’s Worland Field Office hopes to eventually install the panels at the Greybull Museum, returning an important part of Wyoming’s Indigenous history for all to enjoy.

“No one really knows what the symbols mean [except the person or people who created them], but there have been Elders who have discussed what they believe the symbols may mean with archeologists and anthropologists. It’s rather difficult to understand the importance of a specific area because we are so far removed from the time [the rock art was] created,” said Luke Deurmier, an Interpretive Specialist for the Center of the West. “If you can’t tell, I am obsessed with rock art — it is so intriguing!”