The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., November 27, 2003, page 3
Includes photographs

WANDERING SPIRITS
Roosevelt Petroglyphs Moved to Horsethief
By CODIE MILLIREN for The Sentinel

     If spirits dwell in petroglyphs, as the Native Americans believe, then the Roosevelt petroglyphs must be wandering spirits.
     When the John Day Dam was built in the 195os, Army Corps engineers moved 27 petroglyphs - designs and images carved in rocks - from the Columbia's
riverbanks to a park near Roosevelt in eastern Klickitat County. Now, the petroglyphs have moved again, from Roosevelt to Horsethief Lake State Park.
     Five US Army Corps engineers (Joe Ellis, Brian Hert, Jim Grant, Chris Stinebaugh, and Randy Knight) recently dug the petroglyph rocks out with a crane, and hauled them in trucks to a secure location at Horsethief, said Bonnie Beeks, president of the Klickitat County Historical Society. There, officials will clean the petroglyphs and eventually open them to the public. Conservator J. Clair Dean observed the project, making sure all was done correctly.
     The move came because the Roosevelt park was unattended, leaving the petroglyphs vulnerable to deterioration, said Beeks. Beeks was at the park when workers moved the petroglyphs. Fallen fences had allowed cows to roam through, while vandals spray-painted the weathered petroglyph boulders garish green and yellow.
     "You couldn't see anything" through the paint and warred out stones, said Ada Ruth Whitmore, a Bickleton resident whose family was involved with the initial rescue of the petroglyphs in 1959. "I don't know what they're working with."
     It's been a long journey of narrow escape, degrading trials and fading glory for the Roosevelt petroglyphs. Beeks, the Army Corps, and others involved with the ancient Indian stone carvings hope the petroglyphs have finally found a resting place at Horsethief.

IN THE BEGINNING

     No one's sure when the Roosevelt petroglyphs were first scratched onto the faces of 27 basalt rocks and boulders along the Columbia River, near where the John Day Dam now stands. Not even Native Americans who live in the area today can explain this rocky mystery, according to an article in a 1930's newspaper, The Portland Telegram, which attempted at explaining where the petroglyphs came from.
     When the John Day Dam was going to be built, a small Klickitat County group known as The Gem and Mineral Club decided to take on a big project: They wanted to save these ancient petroglyphs from being flooded when the dam was erected, written in a late 50's edition of the Yakima Herald.
     When everything was cleared to start the move, the club bought a couple of acres along Highway 14 in Roosevelt, where they built a little park for the stones. They started in 1959, and by 1964 all the rocks had been placed in the park. All together, there were 25 smaller rocks and two huge "Wind Rocks" (rocks that Native Americans used to tap on for wind prayers) - one weighing about 17 tons and the other weighing a little under10 tons, said Beeks.
     Forty years went by. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of visitors, came to the Roosevelt petroglyph park. Many came out of reverence or interest; too many came with mischief in mind. By that time the park was a wreck. So the last member of the Gem and Mineral Club deeded the land to The Klickitat County Historical Society, in 1992.
     The Society wanted a new home for the petroglyphs. The group settled on moving the rescued treasures to the spot at Horsethief Lake Park where they will soon be on public display. Before the move, Indian tribes came down to the Roosevelt park where they gave a blessing to the petroglyphs. They apologized to the petroglyph spirits and explained why they where being moved. They told them that they would be in a better place.
     The petroglyphs are now in the hands of the US Army Corps of Engineers and have been put away until it is time for them to be cleaned. The cleaning process will be done when there is enough money in the checkbooks to have the job completed, said Luke Elliot, park ranger for the US Army Corps.
     The plan is to place the rocks at their new home at Horsethief Lake Park, where they will be accompanied by other petroglyphs from this area, said Elliot. However, he said, "We're still working with the tribes to find out where the final resting place for them will be, whether in Horsethief or some-where else."