The inscription on the sandstone reads, "I.A.E. Expeditions, Monarch Cave, 1892."
But that inscription found in Butler wash in southeastern Utah cannot begin to tell the story of Warren K. Moorehead's expedition on behalf of Illustrated American magazine. Nor does it tell the story of dozens of similar expeditions into the canyon country of southern Utah in search of prehistoric artifacts for display in Eastern museums.Throughout the 1890s and early 1900s, American museums were caught up in a frenzied competition to have the biggest and most exotic collections of Southwestern Indian artifacts. Among the most sought-after prizes were the Utah cave burials of ancient peoples now called Basketmaker Anasazi - a pre-pottery culture recognized for its marvelous basket weaving.
Almost 100 years later, most of those collections are tucked away in museum vaults, hidden from the public and, for the most part, professional researchers. And many of those collections remain forgotten until six individuals began a four year odyssey that would involve thousands upon thousands of volunteer hours in an effort to document the artifacts removed from Utah so long ago.
Saturday, several hundred professional and amateur archaeologists gathered for a three-day symposium at the San Juan High School in Blanding to honor the little understood and often overlooked Basketmaker culture and the six individuals who worked to bring the museum collections to public light.
The Bureau of Land Management also awarded project members its highest volunteer award. But perhaps the highest honor was paid by the presence of this country's foremost experts in Southwestern archaeology.
"It is a tremendous step forward when amateurs can develop and research a project of this scope and then receive the recognition of the professional community," said Craig Harmon, head archaeologist for the Utah BLM. "It shows that amateurs are capable of becoming involved in a big way, and that professionals should use those kinds of resources."
The Wetherwill Grand Gulch Research Project first began during casual backpack trips into the canyons of southeastern Utah. Friends who hiked together had many discussions as to what finally happened to the countless artifacts removed from the caves and rock shelters.
"One thing led to another and we decided to find out and to get that information into the hands of those who could use it," said Fred Blackburn, a former BLM ranger in Grand Gulch and a driving force behind the project.
They began searching for museum collections in 1986 and examined their last collection in January of this year in Chicago. In between, they copied scores of historic photographs, studied journals and diaries of expedition participants, and somehow managed to convince museum officials to let them take some 800 photographs of selected artifacts. They also took 13 trips into the canyons, retracing the steps of the early explorers to document which artifacts came from which caves - a process labeled "reverse archaeology."
Hundreds of letters, diaries, documents and photographs telling the stories of the various expeditions will now be kept on file at the Edge of the Cedars Museum in Blanding for the benefit of professional researchers. Already, "three or four" professional research projects have begun based in whole or in part on information gathered by project volunteers.
In addition, the Utah Museum of Natural History is now negotiating with various Eastern museums to obtain a traveling exhibit of actual artifacts to tour the state - the first time in almost 100 years the artifacts will have been returned to the area from which they were taken.
"It's not unreasonable to expect those artifacts to someday be returned here," Blackburn said. "But that will depend on the adequacy of the area's museums and whether we (citizens of the region) are willing to make the financial commitment to keep them here."
Experts, some of whom came from as far away as Italy, had nothing but resounding praise for the Wetherwill Grand Gulch Research Project led by Julia Johnson, Ann Phillips, Ann Hayes, Bruce Hucko, Blackburn and Winston Hurst, the only professional archaeologist among the primary project volunteers.
Some experts even labeled the project the wave of the future in terms of public archaeology.
"Professionals need the help of amateurs more so than ever before," said one Utah archaeologist. "And if we think the professionals will do all the work that needs to be done, archaeology is just not going to happen. There's not enough money to fund all the projects that need to be done."
The symposium was funded in part by a grant from the Utah Endowment for the Humanities, while the project was sponsored by the College of Eastern Utah.