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McConkie Ranch, Vernal, UT

The Three Kings Panel

Beware the savage headhunters of Utah! Poppycock you say, there are no headhunters in Utah! Well technically you are right, there ARE no headhunters in Utah, but there WERE headhunters in the past and they left their telltale evidence in petroglyphs and pictographs at a place called McConkie Ranch. On a tour of a plethora of Fremont era petroglyph sites in northeast Utah we came upon this private ranch which has a bizarre and unbelievable story to tell on the tall sandstone rock faces that border the verdant meadows of the ranch.

McConkie Ranch abuts a rock cliff full of odd spires, deep caves, and these bizarre petroglyphs. This is on the way to the Three Kings Panel.

Dating between 1-1200 A.D., these petroglyphs are not the kokopellis, deer hunts and mystical patterns you see carved into cliff faces of Colorado. No, they are “Classic Vernal Style” blocky, life-sized well-adorned tribal men and women happily showcasing the products of their hunting, but in this case, they hold in their hands bloody severed heads of their apparent enemies. How do I know they are bloody? Well, these are a combination of petroglyphs and pictographs, with red in particular being used quite obviously to depict blood still draining from their victim’s necks! What appears to be a flat altar for perhaps beheading victims is nearby the most gruesome of the images.

Here is the entire panel of proud headhunters
Here is a second panel of headhunters. Note the massive feet on the one headhunter which indicates a Hopi influence.
And you thought I was imagining the bloody head, here is the proof, with tears flowing from the head as well. A fellow who researched this image stated the portion of the image that fell off below was very telltale as it had a pool of blood below the head.
An up-close image of one of the evilest looking headhunters, note the heavy use of red paint to enhance his horns and weapons. I would be scared if this came running at me!
The necklace adornment is so elaborate. Could he be standing next to a beheading altar table?

The images show long lines of tribe members each with a head in his/her hand, sometimes a head in each hand! Was this meant to be a warning to passers-by that they were not to hunt and stay in the valley below? Or were they more of a celebration of a bloody victory against their sworn enemies?

The family that headhunts together, stays together, that’s what I always say! Note how happy everyone seems to be and that the severed head appears to be crying! I love the clothing adornments.
The head in this hunters hand is faint, but there. Note the purple paint used, not sure for what though.
The stick-figure-like images are rather amusing, almost like a child’s drawing, like a family photo. Note how all these images have some adornment/horn in the hair.
A panel of a headhunter family, note the happy faces. I am drawn though to the weird little insect-like guy at the lower right. Is he running away in horror?

Odd images are interspersed amongst the headhunters, mythical chimeras, creepy alien-looking creatures (some in their own crafts), and disjoint feet and hands.

My take, this was a petroglyph/pictograph with the paint now eroded away. The face above the feet is clearly part of the entire body with assumedly the body being painted. The severed head, again weeping, is off to the side being held by a hand once painted.
What is it? A vortex on a hilltop with rays spilling out? A three legged alien in a spaceship. A sunrise or a sunset perhaps?
This is told to be a helmeted alien in a spacecraft. OK. Interesting headgear for sure, but those hands/feet, huh?
Looks like a fox, coyote, or a fox/human chimera. Note this image shows up again on the King’s Panel. The chalk outline was likely added by a present-day human trying to enhance the image.
The hula hoop was invented in 900 A.D. by the Fremont people, kidding.

This area was researched by National Geographic in the 1980’s and carved in the stone or painted are cataloguing numbers right next to many of the images (odd for scientists back then to consider this a good practice that didn’t disturb and degrade the artwork).

Oddly this little red stick figure pictograph stands out as one of the few full pictographs intact at the ranch. Thanks to clumsy archeologists, we know this is P29 in their catalogue!

As you progress along the ridge, images evolve into shields, suns, some deer hunt images, perhaps a map of the area and more mythical beasts. In one place, high on a rock is a man apparently stabbing a bear during a hunt. There are Ute petroglyphs interspersed along the way. Hopi influences also show in the big feet of many of the petroglyphs.

This is likely actually a Ute petroglyph of a bear hunt likely hundreds or years after the Fremont images. Note how different the human image is versus the Fremont images
Now this looks like a more traditional petroglyph with the deer at the bottom. To me the image above them almost looks like a trail map of the area. Note what looks almost like a buffalo to the lower right.
Suzie checking out the suns, shields and vortices petroglyphs
A plethora of suns, shields, and vortices adorn the rock cliff sides on the way to the Three Kings Panel.
This image looked kingly to me with his headdress and elaborate necklace. No, it is not the Three Kings Panel!

The most glorious image however on the ranch is a bit of a walk along the meadow paralleling the cliff face. Rock spires and a dark, deep cave on the side of the cliff conjures up images of a mysterious portal to another world.

On the trail to the Three Kings Panel you pass a small canyon with this rock spire at the front of it.
On the way to the Three Kings Panel, one notes this ominous “portal” in the side of the cliff face. Was this a sacred place to the Fremont?

Just about when you think you have run out of trail, there it is, the Three Kings Panel. Perched midway up on the side of a flat cliff face is an amazing combination pictograph/petroglyph which appears to display at least three “kings” (perhaps tribal leaders), one of whom is especially adorned and has a massive colorful shield at his side. Next to him, etched in a black part of the rock is what looks like a human skeleton. Could this be a funeral pyre location for great leaders of the tribe? The black stone almost looks charred black, like a large fire was burning there once. On the other side of the shield are two mythical half man/half animal creatures. Could these creatures be welcoming the spirit of the deceased leader to the afterlife?

The Three King’s Panel. My take, the heralded king is in the middle next to the mysterious red shield with a vortex above it and his right hand. A vortex sits on his left hand as well. In his hand appears to be a red bloody stick and at the end of the stick, you guessed it, a severed head replete with weeping eye with long entrails of a neck hanging from it. Let’s take a closer look….
Zoomed in further. The other two “kings” are the two rightmost figures, note their lesser position deferring to the main king. The rightmost one may be holding a severed head on a stick. Both of these guys have elaborate headdresses/helmets on. In between these two and the head king looks to me to be a skeletal image etched out in the charred rock. Is this the remains of the king from the funeral pyre ascending to a higher plane? The two figures to the left of the image look like animal/human hybrid mythical creatures. Our fox friend shows up as well as another being with very long fingers/claws, perhaps a cougar/human hybrid? Note the fox appears to have curly end shoes on. Are these mythical figures escorting the dead leader to another plane? I welcome other’s perspectives on what this panel means.

I am perplexed that such an odd and unbelievable petroglyph record exists in the United States. The Fremont culture is not well understood or researched. Is it multiple tribes over hundreds of years? What is the relationship between these tribes and their cultures? The National Park Service has these tidbits of information:

The Fremont differed in several ways from their more famous contemporaries in the 11th to 14th centuries, the Ancestral Puebloan peoples who built Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. Four distinct artifacts set them apart: very unique “one rod and bundle” basketry construction, moccasins constructed from the hock of a deer or sheep leg, trapezoidal shaped figures found as clay figurines and in rock art, and the unique materials used to make their gray, coiled pottery.

Unlike native tribes before and after them, the Fremont were primarily sedentary. They built villages of pit houses with adobe structures to store food. They collected wild foods and hunted game, but also cultivated corn, beans, and squash using irrigation techniques. The presence of obsidian, turquoise, and shells show that the Fremont traded with distant villages.

Right, and what about the part about the head hunting? Hmm. The Navajo and Ute discovered the artifacts of the Fremont, but what do these images really mean? Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one, Occam’s razor, they were headhunters proudly displaying their bloody trophies.

A perfect vortex, perhaps a bygone solar calendar? Are you hypnotized now?

Visiting the ranch is free, but a parking donation of $5 is requested. There are two different trails to take to see the petroglyphs, so if you go make sure you take both trails, it is worth it!

2 replies on “McConkie Ranch, Vernal, UT”

Amazing how the red color holds up after hundreds (or thousands?) of years. Perhaps some sort of red iron oxide mixture? Also amazing that the scratching of rock face retains contrast and depth after all these centuries of weathering and Sun exposure.

Thanks for taking me on the journey.

Yes to both observations. I will post another blog on petroglyphs in the near future that has blue and yellow pigments and some even stranger images!

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