Dreaming Of Red Elephants?

Dreaming of red elephants? ANYBODY ??? This is Double Arch, and here's some Arches history: No one knows who the first European was to penetrate Utah's Arches. However, in the mid-1800's, frontiers were pushed back and solitary mountain men and trappers pursued big game and beaver in remote and hostile territory. Denis Julien, one of those lone explorers, might have been the first European to see the Arches. He left his name and the date, June 9, 1844, inscribed on a rock fin in the Park. People from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established outposts in many remote areas of Utah in the late 1800's. Among these was Elk Mountain Mission. In 1855, the missionaries, under the impression that they were on friendly terms with the local Ute Indians, planted crops and constructed a stone fort. But in September of that year, Utes killed three of their settlers so they quickly abandoned the outpost and returned to their home in northern Utah. It was 20 more years before another settlement was attempted in this part of Utah. At Double Arch, red elephants of stone greet the visitor in the northern Windows section of Arches National Park. In 1989, a portion of the classic movie "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade" was filmed here. Photo taken by my wife in the late morning on April 27, 2009