With the technology in today’s world, messages are created and relayed instantaneously. Hit the send key and you can zap an email, text or tweet across the miles in the blink of an eye. But communication wasn’t always this speedy. Think snail mail. When was the last time you actually sat down to handwrite a letter? What about the days before the ballpoint pen when all that was available was quill and ink that had to dry? Or let’s go wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back centuries before when the first attempts at passing along information were carved in rock. Amazingly, an example of this earliest form of communication can be found in my own backyard.
Sanilac County was named for a Wyandot chief. Some say that Sanilac means “without lake” and it’s true that the county does not have one natural inland lake. But its unique and interesting site makes up for the lack of interior lakeshore. Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park contains Michigan’s only known rock carvings attributable to Native American Indians. They date back 300 to 1,000 years to the Late Woodland Period and, after being discovered following a fire which ravaged the area in 1881, provide a glimpse into the lives of an ancient people who once occupied the area. With Mark’s background in archeology, we’ve been meaning to check this out for some time. We finally made it!
We initially zoomed right past the site’s unmarked parking area, but backtracked and finally located it. Turn left at the dead deer! From the parking lot it’s a quarter-mile walk to the petroglyphs along a crushed limestone trail lined with wild flowers.
The carvings were cut into a type of rock known as Marshall Sandstone. About 340 million years ago the area was a river delta. Sand, mud and lime deposited by the water hardened to form the sandstone. Outcrops of this formation are exposed because the glacial soils that cover much of the Lower Peninsula are very thin in this area.
The soft stone allowed an unknown Native American tribe to easily cut it. That, however, has proven problematic. Subsequent generations had found it just as easy to add their names and doodles; some of the carvings have even been removed! Graffiti and vandalism combined with natural weathering has made the actual petroglyphs difficult to see (and photograph!). Most of the carvings are not discernable at first glance.
I understand it’s best to view them on an overcast day with a flashlight to illuminate them from the side. But with a little bit of concentration and a lot of squinty eyes, the depictions began to emerge: Lines, hands, flying birds, animal tracks, spirals.
The 25 x 40-foot sandstone slab contains roughly 100 carvings.
There is concern that without protection and preservation efforts, the carvings may be lost. As a result, the state has made a series of improvements to the site. A large pavilion has been built over the rock and surrounded by a locked chain link fence to keep out the riff raff. The petroglyphs can typically be viewed during the summer Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. when staffed with interpreters.
The park also contains a 1.5-mile loop over the Little Cass River and through the woods past the remains of a 19th-century logging camp and historic Native American settlements. The trail is open 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily. It was hot during our visit so we didn’t check out this part of the park.
The petroglyphs, though? Very cool! What message do you think they send?
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