Near Imnaha in Wallowa County, Oregon — The American West (Northwest)

A Monumental Landscape

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Photographed by Duane Hall, September 10, 2010

1. A Monumental Landscape Marker

Inscription. Across Horse Creek from you is “Monument Ridge” named for its mysterious stone monuments that are visible with binoculars. It is not known exactly who made them or why. Perhaps they were built to mark grazing areas or piled up by a Basque sheepherder feeling small and lonely in this vast and rugged landscape.

”My father understood what it was to be ‘sheeped’ – to go insane from lonliness...He’d herded in the alpine...In his time, he’d endlessly carved family names and verses on trees and had built those curious sheperd monuments...‘stoneboys’...careful piles of stone, therapy sculpture to keep his hands and mind busy. There were Basque herder carvings and scribblings, many in verse, on water troughs, trees, tanks, rocks and fence posts all over the Western wildnerness...mostly sentimental home thoughts.”

Quote from “A Shepherd Watches, a Shepherd Sings”, by Louis Irigaray and Theodore Taylor

Erected by United States Forest Service.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Agriculture.

Location. 45° 28.639′ N, 116° 44.932′ W. Marker is near Imnaha, Oregon, in Wallowa County. It is on Hat Point Road, on the left when

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traveling south. Hat Point Road begins in Imnaha; marker is located at the Horse Creek Overlook interpretive site in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area approximately 11 miles from Imnaha. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Imnaha OR 97842, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Eastern Oregon.

It is also in the American Mountain West

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Pacific Rim,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Other nearby markers. At least 3 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Horse Creek Overlook (here, next to this marker); The Nez Perce War of 1877 (approx. 7 miles away); The Imnaha Canyon ... shelter and sanctuary (approx. 9.3 miles away).

Birds-eye View from Imnaha to Hat Point Lookout image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane Hall, September 10, 2010

2. Birds-eye View from Imnaha to Hat Point Lookout

Close-up of graphic on marker

Horse Creek Overlook Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane Hall, September 10, 2010

3. Horse Creek Overlook Marker

Monument Ridge in background

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on February 14, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 569 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 14, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas.

Editor’s want-list for this marker. Photo of wide-view of marker and surroundings. Photo of clear view of Monument Ridge. • Can you help?