Thomas Doty – Storyteller

Where the Old River Began

Here's one of the symbols at the rock writing site called "Where the Old River Began." This bird symbol indicates a safe place with the feet portrayed as two dots which tells folks that this something to be passed through ... an easy, shallow place to cross the creek. Long ago this creek drained a nearby pluvial lake. This is along the Old Time Indian trail coming from Horse Ridge to points east in Oregon's High Desert. Other symbols at this site, which are very faint, show people arriving and people beseeching or praying. There is also a Coyote symbol that has been "rubbed out" in recent times. This will mean something if you've read Little Big Man or any old gangster stories.