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50@50 – Cortez CO; The Sage Plain

  |   Blog, Exploring

This summer I moved.  Across country.  Not a big deal, people do it all the time.

I’m fascinated by the stories of human migration. I’m not talking about diaspora, which usually refers to large involuntary movements, or scattering, of people away from their established or ancestral homeland. These often come after natural catastrophes, such as Hurricane Katrina, or for geo-political reasons which include slavery, religious and/or political persecution, and indigenous relocation. The settlement of North America brought thousands of people, in waves, to its shores. Migration to this country was completely voluntary, right?  Ehhh…define voluntary – it’s a gray area. A whole book could be devoted to this topic, but I digress.

My point is I’m not talking about large migrations (though I’ll get to that later). I’m fascinated by individual motivations to just up and move, the life choices people make and the effect of change. A lot move to go to college or for a job. We moved because my husband’s job went away; just stopped. So we moved roughly 800 miles north, and 1500 miles west. Every day, we experience change, the environment, the sunlight (or lack thereof), the seasons, and the culture. The history, attitudes and beliefs of the people that live here create a way of life, and art that’s different than in other places – even similar latitudes.

How much of our individual nature lies on the same plane as the culture here, allowing us to “fit” into our new landscape, and how much will the culture of place change us?  This is a continuous thread throughout this blog. Do other people even contemplate these questions?  Are they aware of subtle adaptations as well as the impact of larger more obvious ones?

We sold our house fast, and had an entire month to wander. One would think I’d have EONS of blog material, especially since we hiked over 90 miles, but I’ve restricted this blog to no National Parks, and I want to ensure I properly celebrate the cultural uniqueness of each place. We zigzagged, covering 11 states: Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, South and North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon.

 

Ironically, my trip began exploring the location of one of the largest Diasporas in North American history – the Four Corners area. The Great Sage Plain lies from Cortez Colorado north and west, across Utah, into eastern Nevada, and contains the largest concentration of archeological evidence of civilization on the continent. This area supported thousands of small communities with trade networks that extended into the northern plains, and south into present-day Mexico. What triggered the migration of ancestral Puebloan people is debated, but move they did. The Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores[1] presents the story of this highly populated and culturally rich civilization.  We walked the grounds of the center (only ½ mile each way) to visit the two twelfth century ruins on site.

 

Funny how we think of these indigenous cultural remnants compared to a European ruin of a similar timeframe. Not right, but we do. However, in Europe, 1,000 year old remains are most often castles and churches, not those of ordinary people. Many European peasants lived in hovels, less architecturally engineered than those here, tethered to landlords in a strictly top down socioeconomic structure.  Alters the perspective, doesn’t it?

North and east of Delores there are a lot of stellar mountain and meadow hikes off of Hwy 145 and County Road 38. However, most of our hikes were in local national parks and monuments. West of Cortez, the Canyon of the Ancients offers an immersion into the world of this ancient civilization. The landscape is both bountiful and unforgiving. Hundreds of years ago, the water tables were much closer to the ground here, making dry farming and irrigation more viable than today.[2] Population increases require more resources, could it be that simple?  About 1150 C, people migrated south and southeast into Arizona and New Mexico. They didn’t disappear; they just moved.

 

 

 



[1]           http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc/more.html

[2]           My next blog focuses on the unseen landscape beneath the surface