Colorado trip pix (Day 1)

Zion National Park--June 27, 2007

Indian lore:

We drove through Barstow, California--site of one of the biggest off-reservation gaming battles. You can read about it here.

As the marker says, Indians traversed the Mojave Desert in prehistoric times.

Note the Plains-style headdress on the buffalo in Stateline, Nevada.

I believe Stateline, Laughlin, Tahoe, and Reno are all losing business to Indian casinos.

Las Vegas put gambling on the map, but Indian gaming has turned it into a nationwide industry.

We drove through about five miles of the Moapa Indian reservation in southern Nevada. This stretch of highway must be one of the most desolate places in the United States.

You can see a video of the Moapa landscape here and the Moapa casino here. This is undoubtedly one of the casinos that doesn't earn much.

Springdale, Utah, has such touristy shops as Tribal Arts Gallery and Indian Village.

In the main part of Zion National Park, there aren't many signs of ancient Indians. No rock art and only a small granary site beyond Weeping Rock, according to the shuttle driver.