Dead horses

Today was a drive from the resort on the Colorado River, south toward Canyonlands. We're headed to Dead Horse State Park, and it was a great sports car drive—19 cars in all, a good group of sporty drivers and it was fun to drive this road with them. We stopped at the visitors center first, to get oriented. I bought a floppy hat with a wide brim, to keep the sun off my neck. After all the cold weather and snow in several states on this trip, we're finally getting sunny weather, and I'm starting to get a sunburn.

Then we drove the rest of the way out to the point, and with some creative parking, managed to get everyone in the small lot. There are gorgeous views from here, probably the best views of the Colorado River side of Canyonlands, because you can actually see the river.

The park is on a narrow plateau, which was used as a natural corral by cowboys in the 19th century. The plateau is 2000 feet above the river, and has a narrow neck that was easily fenced to create a natural corral. Cowboys would drive herds of wild horses onto the mesa, then fence off the opening.

How the last herd of horses got left behind, where they eventually died of thirst, is not clear. It's best to think that it was accidental, that it was a "I thought you were supposed to do that" sort of mixup. It could be that someone was told to ride out and take the fence down, and they forgot. Or it was just not considered worth the time to make the long ride. We'll never know. But I don't for a second buy the story that the fence was taken down, but the horses inexplicably wouldn't leave the plateau. That's a story concocted by someone who's never lived with horses. Horses are much smarter than that.

The other times we've come to Moab, I resisted coming out here because of the legend. As a lifetime horse lover, the thought of horses abandoned here was so painful, and I just didn't want to see where it happened. But I'm glad we came. It's a gorgeous spot with amazing views, and I could have stayed here for hours just watching the clouds blow through, and the ever-changing views.