Sleeping Bear Mountain

Sunset, Monument Valley, Southwest Arizona

     The Anasazi Indians, who were the forefathers of the Navajo, named this ancient mountain on the right the Sitting Hen, however it looks like a Sleeping Bear. It was once covered by an ancient ocean that vanished eons ago. They formed the belief that animals were their extended families and called them their brothers. To them, bears symbolized strength, solitude, and believed they had the magical power of healing.

     After the American Civil War, the “Wild,Wild,West” thrived from 1865 until 1895. Restless rugged cowboys such as Wyatt Earp, who was buried here, Doc Holliday, pioneers and drifters roamed through this hallowed ground, where they believed the earth began and would end. Now there are only a few thousand Navajo Indians left and only Sleeping Bear Mountain can tell their story.

     Taken at Sunset while riding a mountain horse in Monument Valley.