Mouse's Tank sits at the end of a box canyon known as Petroglyph Canyon. It is located between two canyons at two separate elevations. One side is a 50 foot cliff and the other side is a half mile long box canyon. This spot stays very moist in the summer as rainwater collects here and it stays shaded. So much more fauna grows within the canyons.

It was named this because a renegade named Little Mouse hid here in the 1890s a Paiute. He was accused of gunning down two prospectors and of other crimes. He use to get drunk and go crazy. Another story is passed on that a ferry man who worked on the Colorado river was trapped by Little Mouse in 1897 a few miles away in a place called muddy river. Of course when the Anasazi inhabited this area that river was NOT muddy that is why I think they perhaps died out...no water means no life. Anyhow the posse shot the ferryman when he refused to give up.

People say that the legends are exaggerated and these stories are just alterations in what really happened. Chick Perkins on the Moapa reservation heard these stories from his parents who were alive at the time this occurred so perhaps there is some truth to it. Perkins did state that Little Mouse only stole from the farmers and prospectors to survive. Their was no sheriffs or cops in the area so robbery here was common. Little Mouse may have been a thief and a murderer.

They say little mouse worked as a ferryman on the Colorado River. Many Indians in the late 1800s had jobs. They let him go cause he was always drunk and became at times abrasive. The point is if he was employed for so long why would he steal? Perhaps he went postal when he lost his job.

The water in Mouse's Tank is not a good source for drinking just as the muddy river a few miles away. When you get to the end of the trail Mouse's tank is just this oval spring between a crevice. Its the size of a small kidney pool. It almost seems like an oasis in the middle of the desert but the water is very muddy and dark. Not good for swimming or drinking. 

My main goal however was to view the Petroglyphs this is what the Valley Of Fire is all about. In the canyon is ALOT of sand something I am use to being I lived in FL for 4 years many of our hikes were in miles of thick sand. You learn how to deal with it as its very strenuous on the legs.

The Petroglyphs are marks made in the stone by humans to represent something such as an object. People call them rock art and the images are often pecked, scratched or ground into the surface. A hammer stone could be used with a pebble as a chisel.  Some of them are many meters off the ground, flat canyon walls, cliff sides etc.  The native Americans would design them then over time the iron and manganese dioxide would mix along with lichens often called desert varnish or patina.  You can see the discoloration in some of them not all but some. 

Its like one Petroglyph I seen you could see two adults and two children all holding hands. This is the real deal and I am so fortunate to bring it to our fans and members of PGS its a nice addition to our site.  Certain places and representations of objects are considered beneficial in certain cultures. It is possible that the artsy view of Indian cultures that lived here viewed the world filled with deities for each life form such as rivers, mountains or anything that stems from natural rather then a universe that is ruled by a single god.  In t he native American world a tree would have a spirit or Deity. Of course some would be more powerful then others. 

A good example would be if big horn sheep were hunted for food and these people depended on them as a source of food for the tribe. The rock art would appease the spirit of that mountain sheep so that the hunt would be prosperous. Alot of my beliefs as the founder Of PGS are very native American. I am not native American but I do share alot of their beliefs. 

But in simple words if you wanted to hut big horned sheep well you would ask the sheep spirit or deity first and continue to hunt successfully. They would call this hunting magic which would explain the images on some of the canyon walls of the big horned sheep etched into the canyon walls.

© By

Lord Rick-AngelOfThyNight

The Discoveries

Action Photos

Rock Formations  & Trails

Petroglyphs