We rode our bikes out to the scenic overlook of the lake/river/gorge. The green area behind us is panther cave, which was inhabited by an ancient people: you can only get to it now by boat.

Indians were not the only folks to use this area, the southern Pacific Railroad came through here as well.  Dean is standing next to the old railroad bed and this stone oven was used to bake for the railroad workers.

We walked up to the hill near the campsite to take photos of the sunset.

Looking back down from the hill, our van is near the center of the photo on the left--not many people camping here.  Surprisingly there were lots of birds.  Right next to our campsite, an occupied cactus wren nest sits in a tree with
its entrance hole hidden from view.

Above, a barn swallow swoops in for a bug. To the right, a mockingbird greets the sunrise.  Below, a group of vultures work the rising heat of the canyons

We also saw a hooded oriole, scissors-tailed  flycatchers and other interesting birds.

Both sides of a bronze Indian shaman greeting the sunrise.  

The only way to see Seminole Canyon up close is to go on a ranger-guided tour.  We joined Ranger Dave and about 15 other folks on the daily 10am tour. Here, Dave stands in front of the above statue, and talks to us about the ancient and not so ancient peoples who have lived in this area.

First the name of the this canyon (Seminole Canyon):  The Seminoles were a mixture of various Native Americans and former slaves who joined together and lived in the swamps of Florida.  In the mid 1800s, many of the Seminole Indians were moved from Florida to Oklahoma. But the blacks of the this group were not welcome in Oklahoma because the Indians there kept slaves and the civil war was beginning, so many of the blacks kept moving west. The black Seminoles were hired by Mexico for tracking and fighting and then they were hired by Texas to keep out the Apaches and Comanches.  A spring in this canyon was named after them and the map makers seeing the name of the spring named it Seminole Canyon.  

Centuries before the Seminoles and the Pacific Railroad, an ancient people lived here and also left their mark.

Once we were at the canyon floor, Dave demonstrated a special throwing device, called an atlatl, used by the ancient people who lived here.  As we approached the cave, he quizzed us as to why they lived in this cave and not the one a little farther up the canyon.  Answer: It faces east to capture the warming rays of sun in the morning, but shades the sun during the hot afternoons.

In addition to talking about the meaning of the pictographs determined by interviews with related, but isolated, tribes in Mexico, Dave talked to us about how these people lived their day-to-day lives. This rock was probably a food preparation rock because it's smoothed and sealed from years of exposure to the human touch.