Along a heavily vandalized stretch of varnished rock one of the most interesting sites in the Mohave manages to hang on and escape damage. Among the many petroglyph elements at this site are panels that appear to illustrate a shaman transforming into his animal form.
This site is in Kawaiisu territory, like the Steam Wells site, where a similar theme of a shaman’s experience during a vision quest is depicted.
The petroglyphs at Steam Wells are well worth a visit. You’ll have to drive in on a dirt road that turns rough and sandy, and then hike about 3/4 of a mile up a wash to see them. Don’t try driving to this site in a 2WD vehicle or a passenger vehicle! Parts of the road are very rough, across sharp bedrock, or very sandy, and you will get stuck for sure. You’ll need 4WD, or else the ability to hike in from the nearest paved road – a journey of many miles.
This site is in the desert portion of Kawaiisu territory and is mostly made up of abstract Rectilinear petroglyphs, although there are also some Representational bighorn sheep and shaman figures.
The Squaw Spring petroglyph site is a very small site consisting of a few petroglyphs on a rock outcropping some distance away from the spring. This site is in Kawaiisu territory. The Kawaiisu also lived in the Greenhorn mountains around Tehachapi where they painted very elaborate pictographs. To me the contrast between the art in their desert territory and their mountain territory is quite marked.