Not far off Highway 92, north of Hiko, is this cool site. Petryglyphs are the big draw in that area, but I loved the camp.
I’m not finding much information other than the name. Based on that, you would think it was a camp for a shepherd watching his flock of sheep. On the site Road Trip Ryan, he says he spoke with a BLM archaeologist who said the history is unknown. Ryan speculates it is a mining camp.
Growing up in Idaho, we had large herds of sheep watched by Basque shepherds. They lived in traditional round-top trailers. After harvest, they appeared across the street from my house to eat down the corn stalks. The trailer was dropped off, and the shepherd remained there for a time, maybe a week or two at most. They had limited supplies, no contact with the outside world, and no transportation. Many times, my father would run them to town for supplies, and my mom would take over the treats on Thanksgiving. They never expected anything, but often the herder would bring over a fresh leg of lamb.
The sheep never remained long before moving to their next stop. On that day, the school bus would arrive hours late. Trapped on a narrow road between a herd of buffalo and the lake, there was nowhere to go.
What struck me is that the sheep were always moving. They never stayed anywhere long. The herd could eat down a field in no time at all.
My gut agrees with Road Trip Ryan, that site is more likely a mining camp. But, they could have built at an old shepherd’s camp, the rock walls could have been used as a corral. Someone put a lot of effort into stacking all the rocks and building a shelter. This isn’t a location where the herd remained for only a few weeks.
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