Show ato story C ry told of the valley or of silent men almost any imagined fancy can bo be found in stony replica carved in tan tactic shapes hy by wind rain and frost in the valley of silent men alen 17 miles southeast of escalante wherever reyer tho the eyo eye may roam soft pastels a are re refracted from the navajo rock and sandstone charming the obit erver with their pink orange mauve and rod all produced by the action of water on mineral deposits because parts of the rock formation are arc softer than others wind and water have cut those away leaving tho the harder charder port portions lons standing like oriental arab legend has it that this thin valley with its weird rock imagery casts an uncanny spell on the visitor and tales of mysterious events from the long dead past go far toward confirming this even today thoro there lit Is something reminiscent 0 these stories as one wanders among the eroded rocks where death dropped its ley icy hands to smother tho the lifer Hf hierom erom from ut at least two men in years gone by april it was in the year of 1912 when X a lonely sheepherder named myron herding sheep in this region was hurrying toward biscamp hla camp to avoid a heavy rain storm when the storm overtook him did not feel the full force of its fury for a abolt bolt of had killed him instantly before he could reach camp three days daya later a mr william alvey on oil a trip to this valley was warned of some disaster by a mournful howling oc at a dog ile he approached tho the spot and found the sheepherders burned body tho the dog had kept his lone vigil loyally lor for the three days beside the dead and burned body of hla his master just a tow few yards from this spot another man mot at the hands of a sheriffs sheil tta posse which had been to follow lowing lug him dayt da s from the north end of the henry mountains through what Is 19 now wayne wonderland across the plateau and down the escalante desert the man according to accusation had bad left a trail of depredations behind the posse wept swept into tho the valley of silent men and found their man eating dinner with a sheep sheepherder horder whon the follow siw maw tho the posse approaching lie he from the camp with the hc posse right after him Il halt lait shouted the leader leade dant the maii acted as it t the 0 order older was ft spur and only ran rai faster aster members of tho the posse called calle to him again to halt hall but the hunted bunted man had reached his 14 stride now and had no intention oi of obeying orders fire ordered the le leader ader and the lend lead from the posses smoking guns entered centered in tho the body of the fleeing man mall the impact from the bullets lifted the man clear from the ground and at as his crumpled body tell fell back to earth he cried you have shot an all innocenc In nun mant I 1 visitors to this peaceful appearing valley today still assort assert that tho the scream sometimes is heard headd echoing from rock to rock and dying at last in the shadowed distance the posse brought the dying man to escalante Escal anle where they tried to find out who he was and where he was sas from but tho the only words that left the dying mans lips was the repetition you haye have killed an innocent man dying that same night the man ca carried r hl its mystery with him into another valley and even more mysterious loui valley of death today the valley of silent men may be reached by traveling a road which goes within one halt half ratio mile east ot of it and even this athla place lias has a name which would delight the heart ot of any writer ot of murder mysteries the name dead mutts mans ridge in the valley ot of silent men alen |