Day 5 Washita Battlefield OK to Petroglyphs NM

Washita Battlefield in western OK , was the site of the 1868 winter massacre of peaceful Cheyenne Indians led by Black Kettle by the 7th Cavalry under Col. George A. Custer.

After the Cavalry killed the warriors ,women & children,

they rounded up the remaining women & children and forced them to watch the soldiers kill about 300 ponies. We'll see Custer get his payback by the Northern Cheyenne when we get to Little Big Horn.

The Visitor Center had a good display about the Indian Removal Act.

We drove through the panhandle of Texas and stopped in Shamrock for gas. Wanda bought a bunch of postcards and one was of an Icon of Route 66. The lady at the register said it was a few blocks down the street

...the famous Conoco Tower gas station & U Drop In cafe on US 66.

The postcard we bought shows it at night lit up with neon lights.

We passed quite a few large wind farms in Texas & eastern

Eastern New Mexico was a flat desert and we could see for miles.

We could see there was a storm coming and for about 5 miles we passed all these billboards for the Flying C Ranch.

When we got to the exit , it was like the J-R places in NC- tourist trap.

We got to Petroglyphs Nat. Mon. in Albuquerque, NM just after the VC closed.

Luckily, we found the Headquarters and got directions to Peidras Marcadas Canyon, parked next to some houses on the edge of the city & hiked in about 1/2 mile.

The trail follows the base of an escarpment about 50 to 100 ft. high

composed of volcanic cinder boulders.

We must have seen @ 100 different images scattered among the boulders.

Many rocks had mulilple petroglyphs.

Many were right along the trail and

others we climbed up among the boulders to see them and get pictures.

Wanda was able to climb a good bit, the new knee worked great as did the hiking staff we bought for the trip.

We were there in the early evening when the temp had dropped & there was a nice breeze.

We'll go to the VC tommorrow when they open see the exhibits, get NPS stamps & then head north for 3 more NPS sites.