BLM

 Things have happened but been so busy that I've got some pictures here that I don't remember the story behind them so here's the one's I do remember.

When I was in San Diego picking up Kobae I got a call on a Sunday morning from the Monticello office of the BLM, not Black Lives Matter. The voice ask if I had found an arrowhead and removed it from federal property. I'm not sure which government agency owned the property where I found the arrowhead but assumed it was some government property so I said yes. I could have said I found it on my property and that would have been the end of the conversation but I told the truth. Did I know if it was illegal? I think I did, sort of. Once before years ago, I had found I think it was six pieces of pottery out toward Jackson Hole. Next time I visited it was five, then four. It was on the edge of a creek bed and each time it rained it took another piece with it into the Colorado River. I called the BLM to see what we should do about it. They said it was probably better that it went to the river. I did not understand that at all. Don't we want to learn as much as we can? I emailed the BLM a picture of the pieces that were left and said come get me if you think I'm a threat somehow. I took the pieces to the rock shop in town and then to the museum to learn as much as I could then left it on my counter to tell guests what I had learned.

I called once previously to tell them about stuff I had found and they met me at one site and I named the site. There is actually a Kobae site with drawings and a dwelling. I went in and told them about another site and when did they want to go look at it. They ask me approximately where it was and I told them roughly and to call me when they wanted to meet and see the site. A few weeks later I was out exploring by the site and ran across them looking for the site and they had never called me. I showed them a couple sites and then have never told them about anything I have found since. In this case my plan was to take the arrowhead and piece of pottery to the rock shop and museum again and then put it back where I found it and then if I was out hiking by there I could take guests, with discretion, and show them the arrowhead and what I had learned. I went to go get Kobae and then was going to take them into town when I got back. The voice ask if I still had them and I said I did. He could give me a warning letter or even a fine and confiscate the arrowhead and put a letter in my file. What was my full name?

I thought, they have a file on me? Does it have the 100's of rescues I've done? Does it mention that I led the SWAT teams and the search on this side of the river when a ranger got shot? How about the Life Flights I've been involved in, maybe a couple of river rescues, the lives I've saved, or Haydukers and Discovery hikers I've bailed out, or who was the first guy there when the helicopter went down, Lockhart in the dark looking for the lost motorcycle rider because they don't have anything that can go down Lockhart, probably there's something in there about all the trash I pick up or cleaning up the Wind Caves on Christmas Day's. Probably something in there about the 10 vehicles a day I give directions to so they don't get lost and SAR has to get involved or the hundred people a month that use the restroom here so there isn't toilet paper all over the desert, or the one person that polices the trails to keep off roaders from tearing up the land. In none of those instances was the BLM there with me. I'm the caretaker of the land as much as humanly possible for all the people that come out here. I bet that's all in the file.

It all flashed through my mind instantly. In a county so big that you can fit Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maryland inside it, this is today's, Sunday's, priority, the arrowhead I found. I said "If you have a file on me then you should have that information"and I hung up.

I was so pissed. The phone rang again but I didn't answer it. I never wanted to answer it again if I see their number. That's all you got to do is go after an arrowhead that I'm putting back and had always planned to put back. There are over 100,000 registered artifact sites in San Juan County and it's about one arrowhead. Don't ever call me for help again. I was determined I was going to keep it that way. They were dead to me.

I got a polite email, not pissed at me for hanging up saying they wanted to meet and work together on stuff that happens out here. As I spent the day hiking with Kobae and Jax the sting wore off.....some. From their perspective I had broken the law. I've also broken the speed limit taking injured people to the hospital, not my people, people I don't know. Want to get me for that too? 

When will I be back? They'd like to meet and see and collect the arrow head. They said they'd be here at 9am and got here at 8:30 am. I showed them the arrow head and said I'd return it once I took it to the rock shop and museum. They said they wanted it now. How do we know you'll really do that? Well because I told the truth. Because I always tell the truth. I'm not hiding anything. It was on the blog, then to Facebook, it's still here, and that's who I am. They wanted it anyway and then wanted to know where I found it. Really, 100,000 sites and you want to know about this one arrowhead. Could I point it out on a map. No I can't. But I'll take you. It felt like a set up but I'd already told them I took it so what would be the set up?

I showed them exactly where I found them and their faces said they doubted me. I pointed out my previous footprints with the exact same boot I was wearing that day and this day with the same print. Where I'd started to take a step, saw the arrow head partially sticking out, picked it up, and the piece of pottery right next to it. Why would I lie? They seemed partially convinced so we hiked back out to the road. They thanked me and left with the arrowhead mentioning they hoped we could work together.

Some Haydukers showed up going the wrong way so I directed them down the right way to Lockhart Basin. A side by side came around the corner confused and going into the problem part of Lockhart so I got him squared away and moments later a motorcycle showed up, a very small one, and I told him he'd struggle on Lockhart but he went anyway. Can't save them all.

The next day I finally found where my messages are on my "smart phone" that doesn't work out here and saw he had twice called me leaving me messages days ago. I felt bad about that and the 20 others of course. I emailed an apology for not returning the other calls and he said he turned the arrowhead over to some in house people who cranked out a bunch of stuff about the arrowhead and the people behind it. Way more than I would have learned at the rock shop or museum and way faster. In the future when I found stuff to take multiple pictures of the find, the surrounding landscape, and measure the items and he'll run it through the in house people and get me an answer to what I found as quick as possible. Who knew? Technology might have an actual purpose occasionally. We'll see how the relationship develops. 

It's the next day after writing this and I just re-read what I wrote. All said and done I think they hurt my feelings when they didn't trust me after all the years and in the end, they handled the situation better than I did.