Revisiting Samuelson's Rocks

I wanted to revisit the mysterious carved rocks of Joshua Tree, aka, "Samuelson's Rocks". My cousin and his daughter joined my on the hike and I was looking forward to showing them the area. I last posted about this fascinating spot about a year ago: Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.

WAKE UP

YOU TAX AND

BOND SLAVES.

A POLITICIAN IS A BIRD

THAT GETS IN ON THE TAX

PAYORS POCKETBOOK FOR A FAT

RAKE OF AND HIS FREE KEEPS.

HE LEADS YOU BY THE NOOSE

WITH ONE HAND  WITH THE OTHER

HE DIGS IN YOUR POCKET

A FRIEND OF THE BANKER AND BIG

BUSINESS WHY?

Food for thought, spelling errors and all, with April 15 nearly here!! John Samuelson, a Swedish immigrant, carved these stones in 1927. This part of the desert would have been extremely remote, with little or no connection to the outside world. News probably spread word-of-mouth, and there would be very limited opportunity to "shoot the breeze" with others. Makes me wonder how Mr. Samuelson formed his opinions and ideas. A fascinating individual who liked to tell tall tales that stretch the limits of credibility. Some of Samuelson's stories were later published by author Erle Stanley Gardner (how many of you remember the TV show Perry Mason??). Gardner was a huge lover of the desert and used to find remote locations to do his writing. Just by coincidence, he was camping in the Quail Springs area (near what is now known as Samuelson's Rocks), met Samuelson, and over a few drinks, was so impressed with the man and his stories that he paid $20 to publish them!

A perfect day for a hike, with mild temperatures and beautiful cloud formations!

We paid a visit to the old rusty car...

Cousin Scott going for a ride!

We checked out the old collapsed homestead cabin (basement still intact!)...

Photo courtesy K. Wessel

From inside the "basement" or cellar, looking out. Somebody get me out of here!!

We even managed to find an old pump house in the area, which I had never seen before. I'll save that for a future post.

Finally reaching Samuelson's Rocks, we took turns resting on the old rusty bed springs. Although I have no proof, I like to imagine that this was Samuelson's old bed. Why would anyone haul this out to the middle of nowhere, except for Samuelson, who had a cabin on this very hill??

I can imagine Mr. Samuelson being totally inspired by the views from the top of his little hill. Perhaps that inspiration crept into his rocky inscriptions??

 THE MILK OF

HUMAN KINDNESS

AINT GOT THICK

CREAM ON IT FOR

ALL OF US

ASK HOOVER

GOD

MADE MAN

BUT HERY FORD

PUT WHEELS UNDER EM

THO A MASTER

OF THE GOLDEN RULE

HE MUST DIE

TO BE. APRRICIATED

The above carving is the toughest of the eight rock carvings to get to and is often missed. I ended up making the climb, with camera and fisheye lens in hand, but just couldn't get a decent shot (with a fisheye, you need to be really close to what you are shooting). Frustrated and perplexed, I ended up climbing further up the rocky hill so I was looking down over the top of the carved words.

An interesting and unique perspective!! Who knows, may be the first time Samuelson's Rocks has been photographed using a fisheye, and very likely the first upside down shot of one of the carved rocks!

MOTHER TIME

NEITHER WEALTH LAWS NOR ARMYS CAN STOP THE

HUMAN MIND FROM CREATING NEW OR EMPROVE UP ON

THE PRESENT DAY RELIGION AND GOVERMENT

WATER IS SAFT ONLY HARD IN THE CHEMICALLS

BUT WITH TIME THE OCEAN CAN GRIEND

THE HARDEST GRANIT TO A POWDERED SAND

SO WITH TIME WILL THE HUMAN RACE GRIEND

OUT ITS OWN DESTINYS REGARDLESS OF THE

OPPOSITION OR PARTY IN POWER

Same photo, but I used the lens correction function in Photoshop. It stretches the image so it goes from a circle to a rectangle with no vignette.

Of the eight mysterious carved rocks, this is the only one that John Samuelson signed and dated (1927).

"Twofer" shot, and one of my favorites.

The above two shots were taken on the hike back to the car. A great hike, and one I would definitely recommend.

Linking with Skywatch Friday.
Click on the link to check out great skies from around the world.
Thanks for stopping by!!