The field we camped in grows alfalfa, though the part shown here was fallow this year. Everyone brought a tent (my own is shown below) and we had five SUVs for transportation. This field was an attractive location but in October remained in shadow and colder than one might like for most of the day. Fortunately Gary built a campfire and made "cowboy coffee" before dawn every morning. Beyond doubt, coffee brewed by boiling grounds in a large pot over an open fire on a cold morning is superior to the finest effusions of an Italian espresso machine.


Standing Cow ruin is just around the corner that you can see in the center of the photo. On top of the rock wall at the right is an area where some hundreds of people took refuge when Kit Carson came into the Canyon with US Army troops to round up the Navaho. It was inaccessible except by log ladders, and easily defended. The seige lasted into winter and many Navaho died of hunger and disease. Eventually the survivors surrendered and began the "Long Walk" to the Bosque Redondo prison camp in eastern New Mexico. Many more died during the forced march and the subsequent confinement. Four years later, in 1868, they were allowed to return to Canyon de Chelly.