Courage Rock

Courage Rock. Scripture Rocks Heritage Park. , It was late autumn in 1911, when a local businessman suggested to Stahlman that the names under which the rocks had been dedicated ought to be cut on them. He began this process shortly afterward, inscribing a few rocks with a railroad spike until the work stopped with the onset of winter., The following spring Stahlman resumed his carving but this time using a mason's point and a mallet, and the names were carved into the rocks in large letters with double outlines. Courage Rock was the first to be engraved in this manner. He believed courage to be "an index of the quality that would be most needed as the work progressed.", The freshly inscribed letters would have stood out in contrast to the darker and grayer background and would have been much easier to read than they are today. The visual impact of the freshly made lettering would certainly have commanded the attention of people passing by. It is generally noted that his engravings are situated where people might be most likely to encounter them., "In late 1911 it was suggested to me that the names under which the rocks were dedicated should be scratched into them. I began to scratch them with a spike, then later with a masons point and mallet and the names of the rocks were cut in large letters with double outlines" , -D.M. Stahlman, Quarrying , Large building construction in the 1800's required a good stone foundation and many of the local hillsides were scavenged for usable rock that could be cut into square building stones. It appears that a large volume of rock had been removed from the Park long before Stahlman began his engraving., Courage Rock displays an excellent example of flat-wedge quarrying. This was carried out by first scoring the rock along the intended cut to help initiate the break. Then slots are cut into the stone using a cape chisel. Flat iron wedges and shims are driven into the slots until the stone cracks in a straight line break. The Courage Rock broke and the cut stones remain in their original position., Other examples of quarried rock include 100 Fold Rock and Coming Out Rock and numerous depressions and rock rubble throughout the park indicate where other rocks have been removed., [Photo captions, top and bottom, read] , . Shim and wedge found in the park, . [Tools demonstrating flat-wedge quarrying]