If you spend enough time bushwacking through the Wasatch you are bound to stumble on a historic oddity or two. I’ve mentally tucked away a historic or pre-contact artifact or two through my decades of Wasatch wandering – always leaving them in place. Early-on, there was an air of mystery with these discoveries. Who else has wandered off the beaten (or less-beaten) track and left behind material evidence of passage or temporal residence? With the Wasatch history becoming more accessible and compiled, I fear the mystery has waned a bit for me. I miss the mystery but would never resent its loss in the face of answers and tales. Instead I find myself only deeper in the scrub oak or overgrown drainage, in search of more scant history or lack thereof. Really, equal in relish.
One mystery that has perplexed me for the couple of decades is the series of cement numeric markers, scattered across the central range (and beyond?). So far, all found off-trail at small saddles or other flat places, usually hidden in the scrub. I’ve communicated with a variety of folks (agency, historian, and otherwise) over the years in search of any information on what these markers portend. But so far no answers have panned to the surface. I post here, in vague attend at crowd-sourcing other locations or information from the Wasatch masses.
If you have found one of these markers, beyond the numbers I’ve listed below, I’d love to hear from you! (saltgrey at gmail dot com).
So far I’ve encountered six markers, scattered across the middle Wasatch, all in fairly obscure, off-trail places. Or, if you know of their original use, I’d also love to hear from you. Their numeric locations seem jumbled with little or no consistency. Go figure. Here’s what I’ve got:
- #31
- #38
- #39
- #40
- #45
- #46
Have you found a different number? If there is a bottom to this mystery, or a full numeric inventory, I’d hope to share the information in a more public forum or location professional archaeology or history journal/quarterly. I’d be sure to credit you. Thanks for reading!
It’s aliens 👽