Sometimes, pictograph sites are vibrant and impressive. Other times, the remaining pigment needs careful attention and some deliberate work with DStretch before you can see what used to be. Today’s site falls in that category.
The Pinto Wye Arrastra in Joshua Tree National Park is one of the many well-preserved artifacts of Western mining and ranching in the Park that can still be seen today.
An arrastra is a type of mill that was used to pulverize ore. Most of the ones I’ve seen follow a simple design: a circular pit lined with flat stones, and a shaft with connected drag stones on a pivot above the pit. The shaft is then spun in some way to pull the drag stones around in the pit and process the ore. Sometimes burros or human power was used, and in later times gasoline engines.