PHOTOS AND TEXT BY SHERRY E ENGLER

The treasures of Camp Verde, Arizona and surrounding areas are numerous and diverse. The town of Camp Verde, in Yavapai County, is centrally located in Arizona, lying in the Verde Valley. The roots of civilization run deep with prehistoric finds, dating perhaps earlier than 600 AD. There are many tourist attractions to experience and explore, such as Montezuma Castle, Montezuma Well, and Fort Verde State Historic Park. Yet, one prehistoric attraction off the beaten path is an experience which mesmerizes the mind with the imagination of determining the images left behind, the V-Bar-V Petroglyphs.

The ancient images of the V-Bar-V Petroglyphs carved deep on the side of a tall red bluff, transcend you into a strange world of the prehistoric mind. These images which were carved more than eight hundred years ago by the Southern Sinagua culture generate questions. Did the leader chisel the images? In viewing the different figures on the canvas of natural red rock, it is apparent each symbol was important to this prehistoric community.  

Ah! But you are thinking: “Why did they name prehistoric petroglyphs the V-Bar-V Petroglyphs?” (At least this was my initial question.)

The petroglyphs are located on land which was settled and established into one of the early cattle ranches in the Verde Valley in the early 1900s by Benjamin Franklin Taylor and his wife Florence Newman Taylor. According to information in the visitor’s center, the Taylors branded their cattle “100”, and thus this ranch became known as “100 Place.” In 1908, the Taylors sold the place. After a few buyers and sellers through the years, in 1927, the ranch became officially the V-Bar-V Cattle Company, after James and Ida May Minotto, along with the Maxwell partners, purchased 100 Place and smaller surrounding ranches and combined them to be known as the V-Bar-V.

Again, the ranch was sold to Marcus Lawrence, who did not reside on the ranch; however, he made a deal with Bruce Brockett to run and operate the V-Bar-V. After Marcus Lawrence was murdered in Prescott, in 1938, Bruce Brockett secured the ranch through probate proceedings. He built a ranch house, uniquely using local materials and embedding “V-Bar-V” into the stones of the chimney.  

Sadly, the house has diminished in time, but one of the first objects you see as a visitor is the stone/rock chimney, still standing tall and strong, bearing the symbolic V-Bar-V, a remnant of a once vibrant cattle ranch in the lucrative Verde Valley.

From the chimney site, a dirt walking trail leads to the location of the ancient petroglyphs. The trail runs alongside Beaver Creek which is a tributary of the Verde River. Serenity astounds the senses, listening to the chirping of various birds, the ripples of water gently swishing forward in the stream, and the fragrant smell of the riparian area of lush, green growth.

The towering bluff of the red rock, exhibiting prehistoric impressions left hundreds of years ago by the Sinagua culture impressively rises from the desert floor. Overwhelmingly, touching into this mysterious past creates a supernatural feeling of connecting with a spiritual relative. The images are considered to have been created by “indirect percussion”, meaning a sharp instrument was pressed against the rock and hit repeatedly with another rock in a hammering fashion to create the wanted image or symbol.

The symbols! So many icons to view and study! What do the images mean? What did the images mean to the ancients? The V-Bar-V Petroglyphs are the largest display in the Verde Valley with 1,032 petroglyphs. Peculiarly, there are NO pictographs. Pictographs are paintings or drawings using nature’s pigments to create images. Usually, pictographs and petroglyphs are found together in archaeological sites; but, not at the V-Bar-V; only petroglyphs.

Time is essential to study and observe the various prehistoric images. Some look like turtles; some look like deer and various animals; some are thought to depict a person of importance such as a shaman or spiritualist. And what of the circles created in a spiral design? Interestingly, there is a desert varnish, caused by a biogeochemical process of bacteria which coats the red rock bluff with a thin black layer, adding more intrigue to the petroglyphs on the side of the cliff of the ancients. 

Some scholars believe the petroglyphs may display a reference to a Sinagua Solar Calendar. According to the Archeoastronomy Survey, the Vernal Equinox of 2005, the light from the sun rays shines on specific images, perhaps giving reference to when to plant and harvest crops. For more information on the study, go to www.sinaguasunwatchers.com.

The V-Bar-V! How ironic when you realize the facts: two very different worlds; two very different cultures; yet, represented today by a rock/stone chimney bearing the icon of V-Bar-V, a yesterday cattle ranching dream, and a red bluff bearing prehistoric symbols of great importance to the Sinagua’s, sharing the land in the valley of the green. 

In 1994, the United States Forest Service secured the V-Bar-V in a land exchange agreement to preserve the heritage of the site. To reach the site from Camp Verde, travel northeast on Main Street to N Montezuma Castle Hwy. Turn right on Interstate 17, until you reach Forest Service Road 618. Turn right and travel until you reach Forest Ranger Road. Turn right and follow the signs to proceed to the site. The V-Bar-V Heritage Site is approximately 22 miles from downtown Camp Verde.



From our house to yours, may all your travels be safe and your hikes in life spiral upward. And may any legacies you leave be carved in goodness. (We may want to reflect on social media for this one. Just imagine what future generations may read! Yikes!!) Blessings!