BACK ROAD ADVENTURE

Scenery Blossoms Indian Route 12 Reveals Hidden Treasures on the Navajo Reservation

THE NAVAJO NATION encompasses an astounding assortment of scenery, much of it showcased along the 100 miles of pavement of Indian Route 12, known as Diné Tah ("among the people") Scenic Road. Sometimes snaking across the ArizonaNew Mexico border, the road climbs from coral-colored cliffs to high pine forests then plunges to red rock buttes and flat-topped mesas.

Leaving Interstate 40 at Exit 357 about 70 miles east of Holbrook, I head north on Indian 12, traveling between undulating pink cliffs and fragrant piñon pine forests. At Milepost 15, red sandstone, twisted and curved, testifies to powerful forces deep in the earth.

Twenty-four miles later, at the junction of 12 and State Route 264, I turn left for a detour to St. Michaels Museum and Historic Site, nestled among green grass and beautiful old cottonwood and willow trees. The spot's Spanish name, La Cienega Amarilla, means "swamp of wild sunflowers," but Navajos call it Chi'hootso or "green meadow."

and beautiful old cottonwood and willow trees. The spot's Spanish name, La Cienega Amarilla, means "swamp of wild sunflowers," but Navajos call it Chi'hootso or "green meadow."

The magnificent sandstone church stands nearby, and the original mission now serves as a museum of local and religious artifacts. Built in 1894 as a trading post, the building was purchased in 1898 by Mother Katharine Drexel, with an inheritance from her wealthy Philadelphia family. Franciscan brothers staffed the new church and, with the help of trader Charles Day's two sons, learned the difficult Navajo language. In 1910, they published the first Navajo ethnographic dictionary, and operated a mission school for reservation children. Mother Katharine Drexel was canonized as a saint in 2000.

Haystacks. Next door, the 58,000-square-foot Navajo Museum, Library and Visitors Center displays artifacts, treaties, paintings, jewelry and much more. No indoor photography is allowed. The nearby Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise sells quality Indian jewelry and crafts. Authentic Navajo rugs come with photographs of the weaver.

Back on the road, I follow 12 northward. Glancing to the right at the first stoplight, I spot the sandstone “window” that inspired the name Window Rock. This is one of only four spots where Navajo medicine men collect water for their Waterway Ceremony.

Four miles farther, the Navajo Veterans Cemetery, with flags flying above each veteran's grave, emphasizes the number of Navajos who have served in the military. My father, Leo Webb, 90, brought his truck along this route in the 1940s. With high “sideboards” on the truck bed, he stopped at each trading post, picking up draftees and volunteers and transporting them to the military base at Inyokern, California. During World War II, Navajo Code Talkers used a Navajo language code never deciphered by the Japanese.

Another mile brings a stoplight and junction with Indian Route 7. Not well marked, 12 turns right (east) to Crystal, New Mexico, following beautiful red cliffs accented with deep green piñon pines. A thin red monolith at Milepost 37 shows the power of weathering and erosion.

The route meanders into New Mexico and near an old sawmill location, home to Annie Wauneka, daughter of first Tribal Chairman Chee Dodge. The first woman on the Navajo Tribal Council, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 for her fight against tuberculosis, a scourge of the Navajo people.

Farther down the road, Red Lake and its variety of aquatic birds appears on the left. Red cliffs are interrupted briefly by a green hill between Mileposts 44 and 45. This is Green Knobs, an area sacred to the Navajo people. The greenhue comes from peridotite. Though not a valuable gem, peridotite is made up of small grains of olivine brought up from the Earth's mantle through geologic forces, offering more proof of the region's powerful past. Following 12, I notice herds of cattle and sheep feeding on some of the best grazing lands on the reservation, as they have since the days my grandfather, Frank Dowdle, worked here as a tribal range rider in the 1930s.

Sagebrush, a member of the sunflower family, spreads over the valley. The smell of sagebrush after a rain is a fragrance that defines the West. Burned by Navajos to purify surroundings, the plant is said to cure headaches.

Near Milepost 56, basalt columns top Sonsela Buttes. This “columnar jointing”occurs when lava cools into polygon shapes.

Returning to the junction, I continue east on 12 to Window Rock, capital of the Navajo Nation. With several places to explore, I first visit the small Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park. Started in 1976 to house an orphaned bear, the zoo is surrounded by an unusual rock formation known as The

BACKUP PLAN Constructed as a means of controlling floods, the approximately 270-acre Tsaile Lake, located near Diné College, also hosts a steady flow of swimmers, campers and fishing folk.

The road climbs steadily through a pygmy forest of piñon and juniper trees, stunted by the poor soil. Still sold in local stores, piñon nuts have sustained Navajos for generations.

Indian 12 wanders back into Arizona before reaching Wheatfields Lake at 7,000 feet elevation, where oaks, golden in the fall, mingle with ponderosa pines. The volcanic formation on the right side at Milepost 72 is Tsaile Butte (pronounced say-lee), another sacred site.

At Milepost 74, a loop drive leads to Tsaile Lake and Diné College where the Ned Hatathli Museum and Gallery contains artifacts of Navajo history. At Tsaile Trading Post,

travel tips route finder

Indian Route 64 leads to Canyon de Chelly, but I faithfully follow 12 farther north. I've been shadowing the Chuska Mountain Range, but gradually melding with red cliffs, it becomes the Lukachukai ("slender reeds") Mountains. Indian Route 13 comes in from the right at Milepost 83, but I stay on 12.

Stripes of purple, green and blue at the Lukachukais' base make up the Chinle Formation, responsible for Arizona's famous Painted Desert. To the left, Round Rock Mesa shows its distinctive west window while two classic buttes, Los Gigantes, tower on the right. Near Milepost 98, 12 ends, abruptly joining U.S. Route 191. Just beyond the junction and under the water tower lies the turn-off to Round Rock Trading Post. Established in 1887, this classic trading post has a room made of sandstone with log beams. A herd of sheep wanders around outside, and inside, turquoise bracelets share a display case with videos. In the center, stacks of Blue Bird flour sacks hold the preferred flour for Navajo frybread.

Reminded of frybread, I head south on U.S. 191 to Chinle for a meal and a hotel room. I'm hungry after spending all day exploring 100 of the most beautiful miles in Navajoland. Al Even the most preoccupied passers-by cannot overlook the sacred and cultural significance of Navajoland's towering red rock formations, like these along Indian Route 12, north of Window Rock.