“Guardian of the Legends” - Bald Eagle
Original Oil - 36” x 24” - Sold
Centuries ago, the native Americas lived throughout this land, quite
possibly stood where you’re standing at this moment. Their petroglyphs
were a near-universal media for ancient communications. Carvings were
often a supernatural and mythological tradition conveyed in stone.
Archeological studies have established human habitation in our
region to about 5,000 years ago. Evidence of this can be seen in their
art work and petroglyphs that they left behind.
The Indian Hill cliffs near Horse Thief Canyon at Kanopolis Lake,
have petroglyphs carved on outcroppings of Dakota sandstone which were
formed millions of years ago. The depictions in stone include bison,
beaver, deer, & equestrian and human figures.
Today, these cliffs are not accessible to the public, so my research
had to be done by a different method. First, I needed to be able to see
the cliffs from as close as I could legally get to them, and that is
from the lake side. With the help of Phil and Connie McNaul of
Hutchinson, and their boat, I was able to study the cliffs and take
reference photographs. Second, Sharla Biegert and Dan Hayes of the
Ranger Office at Kanopolis, allowed me to view past and current
photographs of the Indian Cliffs area. From these photos, it was
determined that 80% of the cliff shown in this painting had collapsed in
the past 20-30 years, leaving very little of the petroglyphs shown in
this painting. They are now legends to those before us and now have
nature’s own guardian.
