Picketwire Canyon: A Hike Through Time
I recently took a trip to the extreme south-east corner of Colorado to the Comanche Grasslands to hike a canyon that is loaded with history. This canyon has evidence of having been inhabited for thousands of years by the Archaic Indians. More recently, in the late 1800’s, the canyon was home to several Spanish homesites and even a Catholic mission and cemetery. Hiking even deeper into the canyon one will even come across the largest dinosaur tracksite in North America.
This is the story of my hike along the Purgatory River Valley in Picketwire Canyon, Colorado.
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Spanish homesite ruins
This adventure starts at the top of the canyon. After a short descent, you reach the canyon floor, where I remained for the next approximately six miles. All around you are towering canyon walls and beautiful desert fauna. Perhaps it’s the result of spending the majority of my life in Appalachia, but I can’t help but be fascinated by this landscape.
An example of the interesting desert fauna in this area.
All along the canyon you can see evidence of the area’s previous occupants. Among the more recent of these occupants was a small group of Spanish settlers.
In 1846, with the conclusion of the Mexican American War, the territory south of the Arkansas river became part of the United States. During this time, many people from Mexico began to migrate north in search of an area to settle. Among them was Damascio Lopez and 11 other families. They eventually settled the land inside of this canyon.
As I hiked along I found constant reminders of the these past occupants.
Despite this community being primarily Catholic, the area lacked a both a church and a priest for the residents to practice their religion. This changed in 1898 when Damascio sold a 0.11-acre area of land to the Denver Diocese for $1.00. The Dolores Mission was built on this site, the remains of which can still be visited today.
Alongside the mission was a cemetery. A number of headstones are still present to this day, though I’m not certain how many graves are actually on the site.
Petroglyphs
The Spanish settlers weren’t the only humans to call this remarkable canyon home. For thousands of years, this land was home to the Archaic Indians. The walls of the canyon are adorned with rock art from these people that dates back between 375 and 4,500 years old.
While hiking along the canyon, a group of curious boulders caught my eye.
Can you spot what caught my eye on these boulders?
Initially, this site only caught my eye because it was a unique formation. While looking a bit closer, however, something caught my eye. From a distance, I couldn’t quite make out what I was seeing so I climbed up to have a closer look.
Upon making my way up to the large crack in these boulders I was delighted to find that both faces were adorned with petroglyphs!
Also on these rock faces I found two curious areas where the rock is ground smooth. One of these areas also contained a few deep slash marks. I’m not certain what these would’ve been, but they certainly appear man-made. My current speculation is that these may have been an area where the native people would’ve sharpened their tools, but I’m certainly no expert. If anyone has any other insights I would love to hear them in the comments!
A little further down the canyon I came across another site that contains what I believe to be man-made rock art. Again, I have no idea what these may have symbolized, but I’d love to hear any insights!
Largest dinosaur tracksite in North America
So far on our adventure, we’ve come across ruins from the late 1800’s and even rock art that could potentially be thousands of years old. You could be forgiven for thinking that Picketwire Canyon couldn’t possibly contain any more history, but you’d be sorely mistaken.
You see, the area that is now this humble little canyon had occupants well before the Archaic Indians called this place home.
150 mission years ago, during a time called the Jurassic Period, Southeastern Colorado was a tropical climate. Vast forests of ferns, pines, and sequoias dominated the landscape. At this time, neither Picketwire Canyon nor the Purgatory River existed; They hadn’t had time to form yet.
Instead, this area was a massive, shallow lake. Along the lake’s muddy shoreline, dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus and Allosaurus roamed, leaving behind their footprints. Remains of these creatures have been discovered throughout the canyon. Everything from bones to, of course, tracks. Along the way to the tracksite, you will come across a cast of a bone that was discovered in the area in 2008. The cast is of the shoulder blade from an Apatosaurus.
Today, this area of Picketwire Canyon contains the largest dinosaur tracksite in North America. There are over 1,900 individual tracks across over 130 unique trackways.
