Some of you have undoubtedly noticed the photograph of the bear paw on the front page of the site. Nobody is quite sure how old it is or who carved it into a boulder that now resides in a park in Pocatello, Idaho. However, it is undoubtedly related to the Shoshone and Bannocks that traveled through this region and camped near the Portneuf River for centuries and traveled South to Bear River to spend their winters there.
If you happen to know of similar petroglyphs in the Southeastern Idaho region there is something more you can do to help out. First, protect the petroglyph! Don't tell irresponsible people where it is. Don't pour liquids on it. Don't expose it to the elements if it's protected by an overhang or vegetation. And whatever you do, don't try to remove it! Damaging or removing a petroglphy (or any artifact on public land) is a felony.
Second, please photograph the petroglyphs you know of. If you send them to us please give us a general idea of where it is located. We will not publish that data, but instead store it for researchers. GPS data is even better, but not necessary.
One of the issues with Idaho petroglyphs is that we do not have a Rosetta Stone to help us interpret them. Some symbols are known, but many are in dispute. By recording the symbols we can build an archive of them for further study.
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