Pictograph sign at Wells Dam

Information about the pictograph is located on a sign next to the pictograph that reads,

Stories in Stone

Pictographs or rock paintings, like those on this rock, were created by Native Americans over many years or centuries. Although difficult to say with certainty, anthropologists believe that pictographs chronicle the history of countless generations and provide a record of what was important in their lives. References to natural resources are central - the earth provided food, shelter, and fulfilled spiritual needs. Unfortunately, these stories in stone also tell of disease and death - indicated by an upside-down figure (seen on the rock). When Euro-Americans arrived, diseases quickly followed ravaging the native populations. The animals depicted in pictographs may represent prey, or they might identify particular tribes. Native American groups recognize one another by clan names - the turtle people, crayfish people, or big-fir people - when Euro-Americans arrived, native groups were often given new names like Methow, Chelan, and Moses.

Pictographs were created with paints made exclusively from natural materials. Minerals, plant extracts, blood, urine, and fat were used to produce a rainbow of colors. Here in the Columbia Plateau, pictographs are predominately red. Erosion, pollution, development, and vandalism have taken a toll on this rock art. This particular rock was excavated from its original site at the river's edge just before the construction of Wells Dam in 1967. Hundreds of similar rock paintings lie deep under water behind the Columbia River's dams.