Welcome to Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains I'm Larry Hedrick where we bring
the past into the present for our future viewers today we have another great story by Hank Sheffer
when I came to Apache Junction Arizona I didn't just wind up in there Apache Junction
I came back here in 1981 and there was nothing arbitrary about it it was completely by design
that I came to Apache Junction I had been here years before in the 60s after my navy years
and I had learned then that Apache junction at one time had been a stagecoach trail that led
to the nearby superstition mountains the Odum judd akimal oatham which was Pima,
Papago and Hohokam were some of the people who had tribal ties to the area at one time or another
however most scholars believe the petroglyphs were created by the Hohokam Indians who lived
in the area roughly 1500 years ago the whole western intrigue thing was wonderful and it was
beyond belief for me and I felt right at home so why Arizona you ask well when I was a youngster
growing up back east I remember my mom and dad asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up
that's kind of funny when I grow up even then I knew that unless you had aspirations of becoming
the President which I didn't there were only three things that boys my age wanted to be back then
they were Firemen, Policemen and of course there were cowboys they were all heroes
but I knew that I wanted to be a cowboy Arizona just seemed like the place where I needed to be
one of the first places I heard about when I got here and it became number one on my
list of places to visit was Apache Springs in this mystic place was supposedly what was known
as the Apache or Indian bathtub and there were all those mysterious markings on the walls of the
canyon that had been left by early Native American inhabitants from more than a thousand years before
hieroglyphic canyon that was the place I wanted to go to it was located in the southwest end of
the superstition mountain range but it wasn't always known by the name of Apache Springs
that was the original name some sources say the name was changed to hieroglyphic canyon
shortly after the turn of the 20th century the prolific writer historian
Will Robinson in his book history of Arizona referred to Apache Springs as early as 1918.
I'm sure the old ranchers knew where the locations were and probably had names of their own for all
of them but there were no formal names back then not for these cowboys out there in the mountains
talk about early Cowboys, Freighters and other Pioneers in the mountains
all of these guys they knew where they were going and they had names for the
things that they used as landmarks but they didn't necessarily show up on maps
and other sources say that Apache Springs appeared on maps as late as 1939.
I have to say here as we've seen with so many other topics about the Superstition mountains
there just is never one version of any story that we're discussing and the Hieroglyphic
Canyon is no different however when it comes to talking about who changed the name
of the canyon we do have a few clues as to who may have made the change Pearl Bates
or William N king could have named the canyon during the war years 1941 to 1945.
one or the other was probably pearl bates according to Tom
Kollenburn and Kullenurn knew these people so I I'll take his word on it he was the
one who passed the hieroglyphic name on to Julian King after December of 1945.
whoever the genius was to call the writings on these ancient walls hieroglyphics
I believe did so because it seemed like the thing to do to add intrigue to the desert country around
dinosaur mountain or he simply just didn't know what the hell he was talking about
unfortunately whatever the reason the name change was a complete misnomer and the
misinformation created confusion for our southwest scholars as well as Egyptologists way back then
petroglyphs are indigenous to the American southwest
hieroglyphics well we know where they come from don't we don't we
just sounds like just one more fiction writer trying to make a buck out there somewhere to me
anyway nevertheless Apache Springs exhibit some of the best examples of petroglyphs
in the entire range of the superstition mountain animals antelope sheep deer snakes and lizards
it also has some geometric like patterns in the mix these animals are all over the place and they
were significant to date Native Americans diet and the geometric shapes may well have had some
significance to their religions at the time these amazing petrographs are located about
a mile and a half east of kings Ranch Resort off kings ranch road today there is a large
paved parking lot at the east end of cloud view road the hike itself was a pleasant easy
2.8 mile walk on some winter weekends the parking lot has filled the capacity and i know I just went
up there the other day and I couldn't even get in it was so packed but you you go up
there and check it out and it's worth the wait there are numerous other areas with petroglyphs
in the mountain but they are not so easily reached as the hieroglyphic canyon is they would take some
serious homework and planning to get to there and maybe even a guide if you don't know the mountain
let me tell you a little story about the first venture I had up in the hieroglyphic canyon
when I arrived in Apache junction one of the first places I happened to come across
was the Apacheland movie ranch studios it was located at the base of the superstition mountain
at Peralta road this was perfect i was allowed to step back into the 1800s crack out of the box
and with a vengeance I loved it I soon wangled my way into working if you want to call it
work with the gunfighters and participating in their shows I also learned that the trail of
those petroglyphs we talked about could be accessed right off the Apacheland property
after I was at Apacheland for a little while I met an old Indian gentleman
by the name of papa Jim Fire Eagle he was 77 years young that particular year
but you'd have never guessed it to look at him he was surprised he could be as
sharp as attack Papa Jim Little Beaver and Little Beaver's wife Snowflower
came to see the petroglyphs jim had never seen him and he wanted to see them just as badly as I did
as we traveled up the relatively flat trail he explained how to spot where camps had been
and dammit piles now dammit piles we all have those if we've ever done any kind of craft at all
you've had those situations where you're working with something and all of a sudden you say oh damn
it and you throw it down and you do it over again what you threw on the ground that's called your
damn it pile well the Indian did the same thing if he was making arrowheads or whatever or pottery
or whatever and it broke or something he just damn it and he threw it in a pile and they became known
as dammit piles now once we arrived at the canyon Jim was like a hungry dog in a meat locker
he scrutinized every one of the writings he said hmm a lot he just smiled that all-knowing smile
and then we took a lunch break never explained anything he just hmm and then we took that lunch
break Snowflower made some drawings and notes as we all sat eating our lunch which consisted
of traditional Indian cuisine peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we taken with us during that
conversation I mentioned that my wife's at the time name her name was Whipple now Whipple was
kind of interesting because there was a Lieutenant Whipple at Fort Whipple out here in this area
and I said that she was part Indian and I said it's kind of interesting because Lieutenant
Whipple was back here when all the Indians and the Cavalry was fighting and they was carrying on
like that and shooting and killing each other and carrying on and Jim looked at me with the kind of
a twinkle in his eye and he said what just goes to show you all them Indians wasn't fighting was they
hmm well that trip had been quite an adventure after returning to Apacheland
after the sandwiches and it was starting to get dark
so we came back to the came back to the movie ranch and we sat around drinking a pot of coffee
it was a Papa Jim pot of coffee and his coffee was just black as cool as dog I tell you it was just
black black black coffee um you could tell when it was done because you could float a spoon in it
it was just it was tough stuff but it wasn't bad we we got through it after that we called it a day
and i went home my head was just spinning with all the wonderful things i had learned that day
things I never had any idea about now just because it's the nature of the beast
uh in Apache Junction it doesn't take long to get all wrapped up in the lost that's when gold and
treasure legends um they seem to permeate out of every rock crevice and cactus and any old-timers
surrounding this area uh they're always shrouded by the mountains that you can see in untold
secrets and I was no different in that regard I was I was wrapped up in it all of a sudden uh
i met some amazing people after I arrived here I wound up dealing with celebrities that dealt with
just all sorts of wonderful things and people who had been on the mountain people had written books
which prompted me to write a book or two or three
and there was just so much that i had to learn and I just soaked it up like a sponge
I want to tell you that you're invited to come out here and visit Arizona I've had so many comments
from folks out there from all over the planet you're welcome to come out here and enjoy some of
the adventures on your own Superstition Mountain's still sitting there just like she always was
on a final note i would personally like to remind everyone wanting to make the quest
to our area here in Arizona and especially to Apache Springs
the unique thing about this ancient canyon is that it provides us
with a peek into the past and we can walk the quiet desert into an ancient art gallery
created by people who walk the very same steps that we are now walking over a thousand years ago
my trip was over 35 years ago but ever since then the mountain and its petrographs
have remained beautiful and visible for all these many years my hope is that when you go to visit
you too will appreciate and protect what you see and leave the scene just as you found it
and while you're at it you might also want to ponder the thought that we still do today
we still don't know what these mysterious writings on the mountain have to say and
that's why they remain just another mystery of the superstition mountains
thank you for watching this episode of Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains