Samuelson's Rock
John Samuelson was a Swedish immigrant who worked on a mine and set up a house in what is now the Quail Springs area of Joshua Tree National Park. (Reportedly his homestead application was denied due to his Swedish citizenship and he and his family left shortly thereafter for Los Angeles, where he committed murder. There are other stories as well. He was an interesting guy.) The house burned down in the 1930’s, but remnants of his time there remain – most notably his rock etchings.
Our trail book did not provide specific directions or landmarks around the site, citing fears of vandalism, but we were able to find our way with our topographic map and some effort. After some recent hikes that involved getting very lost, we were NOT messing around this time. We were determined to find this rock – and we did. The compass came in handy.
Samuelson's Rock is actually a mound of rocks. Some of the etchings are visible from the ground, but others require some exploring up the rock mound– which happily we had chosen to do. Some of the etchings are pretty spiritual, relating to nature and the divine. Others are strong statements about income inequality – both Mellon and Henry Ford are mentioned. (Some internet research after the fact indicates we did not find all the etchings. We will have to go back!)
To top it off, we saw bighorn sheep on our way out and on our way back! Can it get any better?
If you are in the area and want to have a look for yourself…
We used the Quail Springs Historic Trail and took the Samuelson’s Rock spur. The hike is about 7 miles, and physically pretty easy. However, finding your way is not straightforward, especially if you don't know what you are looking for, like us! The trail is not well marked – there are no signs, but there are some rocks marking some of the main intersections. The area is wide open with some good natural landmarks. So, when you get closer you can hike in the correct direction and find your way. There are also shorter routes, which involve walking cross-country…no trails.
The sheep are no fools – they kept a firm eye on us until we passed by.
When we saw this...we figured we has found Samuelson's homestead.
There are a variety of old metal items around, which may have also been from the homestead.
Samuelson's Rock is actually a mound of rocks, which you need to explore to find the etchings.
