This monolithic block of sandstone can be found deep inside Canyon De Muerte, part of the Canyon De Chelly area complex of Canyons. 

Sandstone walls can be very dramatic, with dark areas and striations called desert varnish on their faces. Sometimes, entire faces of the cliffs above come crumbling down in sheets due to weather erosion, exposing clean sandstone faces. Millenia of erosion from water due to the heavy summer monsoons and winter snowmelt often make the canyon impassable. Access to the Canyon is by private Navajo Tour guides. The Canyon is becoming more and more impassable with muds setting in. Quicksand can also be found in the Canyon.

The Canyon is a National Monument, controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. The Canyon provided great vantage points for the native Indians from which to attack enemies, at first the Spanish and then the US Army. The US government used the bureau to keep the natives in check by providing “assistance” which in time, made the land unusable to grow even the most basic sustenance crops. At one time, fruit trees and gazelles flourished in the Canyon. Today, Cottonwoods which were brought in to try to control erosion from the floods are taking over the land. 

Former Navajo residents of the Canyon were ordered to leave the Canyon and made to walk over 300 miles to Fort Sumner in New Mexico in what became known as the “Long Walk”. Many perished along the journey and in the Camp.

Edward Curtis photographed the Canyon in 1904 and you could see clear across the Canyon, from one wall to the next. Today, that is no longer possible in many parts of the Canyon.

I took a private Tour with Canyon De Chelly Tours in December of 2022. I had been to the area prior in 2016 and could only view the sites from the pull-off parking areas on the opposite side of the Canyon. There are roads flanking both sides of the Canyon with pullouts for cars at key vantage points. Some of the areas I was able to photograph from the South Rim are now closed (White House can no longer be photographed from the pull off which is closed). 

The guide, a local Navajo native grew up in the Canyon and was sent away by force to one the boarding schools set up by federal entities to teach the natives the American way and give them literacy with the goal of eradicating the Indigenous language and culture. Please follow the link to read about the boarding schools and the many atrocities committed there: https://www.abqjournal.com/news/local/report-details-brutal-militarized-history-of-native-boarding-schools/article_64639f38-1adf-5808-8b25-3191b6ad6628.html. 

At the Heard Museum, a very worthwhile destination in Phoenix, I was able to walk through a very moving and educational exhibit about the Boarding Schools for natives in New Mexico and Arizona and Oklahoma.

I stayed for 3 nights at the Thunderbird Lodge, a relatively inexpensive Historic Lodge and the only one in the Canyon. It provided all the basic comforts I would need, it was clean and they ran a decent restaurant located in the former Historic Trading Post. You can still see the fortified bank-like vault steel door which once guarded the valuable trading items inside its chamber.  The restaurant offered a limited number of items and a choice of a couple of hearty specials every night. There is not much in the area so this was very convenient. So was the store in the Complex where I was able to purchase a wool hat.\

Since 2016, a few more hotels and food joints have popped up, all very basic. This area is still very rural, with Granada being the largest town nearby. 

This black and white portrait image is best printed on one of our Fine Art Papers and is offered for sale up to a framed size of 30”x40”. This art print is suitable for display in residential homes and commercial spaces.