Worland Middle School students learn history of Legend Rock

WORLAND - Worland Middle School students from social studies teacher Joe Winkler's classes took a field trip to Legend Rock State Archaeological Site on Oct. 3 to learn about the history of Legend Rock, and do activities to help learn more about the area and processes that have gone on there for thousands of years.

According to Hot Springs Travel and Tourism, Legend Rock is on the route to Meeteetse from Thermopolis, at the Hamilton Dome turn-off.

According to site officials, Legend Rock is a sacred piece of land to Native Americans, and some of the drawings on the wall there date back 10,000 years.

"It is important that the students learn about the Shoshone and the Arapahoe" Winkler said. "They have shown some amazing insight after the trip in understanding about Native Americans in Wyoming, as well as across the country."

At Legend Rock, the students from his classes were asked to do activities, in order to see how they made the petroglyphs on the rock centuries ago; and being able to do a modern version for themselves.

Some of the student activities included drawing in the style that were used on the rock walls thousands of years ago, and using the same style in the same manner. This style for students included tapping the paper to make dots, which would combine together to make the image once they were all connected.

Another student activity was observing the actual carvings on the wall, and making connections regarding the meaning of the carvings on the walls, and learning about how these carvings all had distinct meanings dependent on what was etched into the rock.

"The students responded really positively after we got back," Winkler said. "I think having archaeologists and experts on Native Americans helped the students be comfortable to ask questions and learn."

The final two activities dealt with animals that are common in the area, and dealt with two different sides of the animals and what happens for survival, and what happens after a buffalo is killed during a hunt.

A game of predator versus prey demonstrated to students how some animals are able to survive and feed their offspring by maneuvering around predators, as well as freezing, as some predators sight is based off of movement.

The final station that the kids participated in was a showing of buffalo hide, and how it is tanned, as well as other things that can be created with the buffalo hide such as gloves, hats, and coats.

All of these activities revolved around learning more about Native American culture, as well as learning how important it is to preserve these sites for future generations to learn about their meaning.

Preserving sites such as Legend Rock can be difficult at times, and the state officials that helped show the students around reminded them how important it is to keep the sites protected, so that future generations may enjoy them.

Another activity, not related to the actual petroglyph side, was a walk up to a view of Hamilton Dome, where students learned about the process of oil in the area, and how important it was that these sites were here for the Big Horn Basin region.