Veit Springs Site
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Pictograph from the spring area
Making marks on objects has been something that
mankind has done for many years. These
marks can be artistic or graffiti depending on the eye of the beholder.
In some places these marks are protected for present and future
generations to see One of the places where some marks are protected and
others are considered vandalism is on a trail in the Arizona Snow Bowl.
Veit's chisel marks
The trail is a short, easy walk to a cabin once owned by Ludwig Veit. The remains of the cabin are still here as is Mr. Veit's chiseled mark from the 1890s identifying that this was his place. The site was used as a place to keep sheep.
Veit's cabin today
Cliff behind the cabin
The rocky cliff that provides the backdrop to Veit's homestead also has two springs. Their presence is unusual since few springs are found in the Snow Bowl area or the San Francisco Peaks of which the Snow Bowl is a part.
One of the springs, called Veit Springs, Veit used and even built a stone entrance to protect the water. The other, the Canadian Spring, is a bit higher on the cliff and is the site of some remarkable pictographs and petroglyphs. The Native Americans did these in the prehistory of the area. Who and why the art was done are not known for sure.
Perhaps early hunters camping here wished to let the spirits of the place know that they were alive and there. Perhaps they wanted to warn other travelers of danger or to tell them of available food. In all probability we will not know for sure. We can only speculate.
One of the pictographs is comprised of three handprints. Maybe this was the same as we see today on all sorts of objects--trees, cars, and walls—meaning that I was here.
Today's marks are painted or carved and we consider them ugly and vulgar…did Native Americans feel the same about the pictographs and petroglyphs?
Petroglyph by the spring
Single Hand print-pictograph
Pictograph by the spring
Today's graffiti on the trail
Aspen grove to the east of the cabin
To get to this site take US 180 west from Flagstaff to the entrance to the Snow Bowl. From there proceed until the trailhead for the Lamar Haines Memorial Wildlife Area appears on the right. Park in the lot and proceed through the gate (be sure to close it behind you). The trail goes to the right—there is an old jeep road going left but do not take this one. About 0.2 miles there is a major fork in the trail—take the right fork. There are several other forks in the trail but if you keep generally right you will come first to the Lamar Haines Monument and then to the cabin to the left of the trail. There is also another old cabin site (Jenks' Site) that is in a grove of beautiful aspens. The whole distance from trailhead to cabin is about 0.75 miles.
© 1999-- Dr. Stephen Canipe
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Lamar Haines Wildlife Area Marker