So this find has been getting alot attention in the media and no credit has been given to myself for discovering it. I don't care about the publicity, but why not give credit where credit is due? Anyway, here is the story that I sent the regional newspaper....it was ignored.
I work for the Aspen Achievement Academy in Loa, Ut which serves youths troubled with abuse, drugs, and trauma by providing wilderness experiences and therapy. The program operates over several 1000 square miles stretching across the San Rafael and Capital Reef swells. On March 17th we were camped in a very isolated location and had taken a group of boys to explore a known Fremont kiva site.
Although this site is well known to the instructors, it is very rare that we bring groups here because of the risk of damaging any artifacts. The students are instructed only to look and touch nothing. The Fremont tended to build dwellings in elevated caves or under over hanging cliffs. This site was larger than most kiva sites in that it probably housed several families and contained the remainder of rock walls and corn cobs. After carefully viewing the site, some of the students were given time to write about their thoughts on the Fremont and I took the two senior students to explore the surrounding area.
During the exploration, student C became trapped because he was unable to climb over a ledge. Instead he climbed down into a dry wash and we agreed to rejoin further down. After a few minutes we heard him yelling for help. We ran at full speed thinking to his last position thinking he had become injured. Ironically, I was injured after sliding down a rock embankment to reach him. When we arrived he was holding a Native American ceramic bowl. The bowl was in beautiful shape with lovely paintings and in perfect condition. There was not a single chip in its surface. Student C reported that he had been trying to find a way to get past some brush blocking his path and saw a small hole in the rocks that could be crawled through. As he approached the hole he noticed a strange round rock. The bowl has been sitting upside down and completely exposed to the elements for almost 800 years before he picked it up. After some excited smiles and taking some pictures he returned the bowl to its original resting place and continued with our exploration.
Three weeks later I was visiting friends working for the Capitol Reef National Park and was introduced to the park archaeologist, Cameron Cox. He was very excited to hear that an artifact had been found in such excellent condition and begged me to take him to it as soon as possible. We ventured out the following day armed with camera and compass. After a few hours of trying to find the wash I had to apologize that my memory had failed me and that I had wasted his time.
Cameron was disappointed but understood that it is hard to remember a specific place in a maze of rocks. As we headed back to the car we decided that we should make the most of the trip and have some fun exploring the area. We were having fun climbing up and over cliffs like a couple of boys when we ran directly into the bowl. It was sitting just as it was three weeks previous. I've never seen a grown man so excited, Cameron was glowing. Unfortunately, the location was outside his jurisdiction and we again replaced the bowl and agreed to contact the BLM.
