Photos from "Desert Expedition 1864"

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About ten or twelve years ago I was going up to Orofino Idaho to help with long range shooting instruction. I was on the road that goes north through Ely Nevada
about five miles out of town. Nothing much there and looked somewhat like your camping area. I had decided to camp out instead of staying in town. I pulled off on the east side of the highway and got a couple of miles off the road. Nice and private and quiet, cooked supper and set up, my cot and bedroll. Had me a little fire in the evening and went to bed. I woke up just about dawn and started my water for the coffee pot. I like drip coffee. Got the coleman going for some bacon and eggs, I'm still in my night clothes which consist of skivvies and Tshirt and I had put my boots on. Low and behold up the road comes an older pick up truck, rough looking truck that was being driven by a 15 year old boy with an ancient looking old man in the middle and an early age teen age girl on the outside seat. I couldn't think of anything else to do so invited them for coffee, they didn't seem to be surprised or upset at seeing me there and the old man said he wouldn't mind having a cup. There I am in my underware pouring coffee for strangers and they acted like it happened all the time. After giving him his coffee I excused myself to the other side of my truck and put on my pants. at least it made me feel better. They were out scouting the area for the upcoming antelope season. We talked for a little while then they continued on their way. I ate cleaned up breakfast stuff repacked and got on the road myself.

I considered it an interesting morning. I'll bet all of us have a bunch of interesting little experiences with things like this. Long lives gives us memories.
 
Great pictures! I believe that is called a "Medicine Wheel" if it's native in origin...could be ancient, or could be from someone last fall.
I now realize the photo posted doesn't accurately show what was actually there. In this photo attached here, the blue circle is highlighting the stones outside the "Medicine Wheel" that point north. They're attached to the Wheel not just random stones. The red drawing is to exemplify the entire shape of the circle as if from a birds eye view. All the Medicine Wheel things I've seen online had no additional point or line out as seen here. So compass? Or Medicine Wheel? I'm not sure.
 

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I now realize the photo posted doesn't accurately show what was actually there. In this photo attached here, the blue circle is highlighting the stones outside the "Medicine Wheel" that point north. They're attached to the Wheel not just random stones. The red drawing is to exemplify the entire shape of the circle as if from a birds eye view. All the Medicine Wheel things I've seen online had no additional point or line out as seen here. So compass? Or Medicine Wheel? I'm not sure.
Oops, didn't see this pic until now! Here's a better photo. It has a point!
 

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the circle looks very old to me could have been stones moved due to weather or someone adding to it not knowing what it was, it's definitely not a compass. If you go there again take a real compass and find the direction of the ridge in your picture my bet is north, may explain why the long axis of the cross extends outside the circle, the mountain ridge may have held some significance to the original builder of the circle.
 
went back and looked at the original pics. suggestion would be to re-search the native tribes in that area, again I bet there is a connection to the circle and the mountain ridge.
 
Recall back around the Civil War they tried introducing Camels out West for military use? That would have been something if that ever caught on!
If there were more of them, they might have had a sustainable population. I may be wrong, I think I read somewhere the last one that was seen was either sometime around the beginning of the 20th century or in the 1940's.
 
the circle looks very old to me could have been stones moved due to weather or someone adding to it not knowing what it was, it's definitely not a compass. If you go there again take a real compass and find the direction of the ridge in your picture my bet is north, may explain why the long axis of the cross extends outside the circle, the mountain ridge may have held some significance to the original builder of the circle.
Doesn't appear really old, not like ancient; wonder if placed in more modern times by guys like us? Simply too close to surface to be really old. Nice, though!
 
Doesn't appear really old, not like ancient; wonder if placed in more modern times by guys like us? Simply too close to surface to be really old. Nice, though!
In the Sonoran Desert north of Phoenix there are many rock formations made by the ancients that look like they were put together not long-ago but are several thousand years old. Things like rock placed by humans don't move much in the desert.
 

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