Thursday, July 7, 2011

Pipe Spring National Monument

It is a lonely place. I imagine it was only that much more lonely in its heyday, totally disconnected from civilization. Mormon settlers built the place up around the spring, which made life harder for the Paiute that were living in the area. It was and is a dry, desolate place. It was miles and miles from anywhere, and today there is still very little near it. It was built on beautiful but harsh land and it took tough people to make a living out there.





 When the first settlers came through, it was a prairie. There are reports that when riding horses through it, the grass came up to the horses' bellies. In some areas the grass grew over five feet tall. I could have disappeared by walking into it. Now the whole area is covered in desert scrub brush, sage, and cheatgrass. They have a small area set aside to try to recreate the mix of grasses that used to grow on the land with ease. I took the following photo while imagining the history of the place, trying to see it covered in a sea of waving blades of grass.


Each of the above photos was taken on my Olympus OM-1 using Lucky 200iso film.

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