Suzanne Findlay, another of the volunteer artists, paints flowers on the wall. The display will be open for public viewing on May 4 when the Grant County Historical Museum reopens. The Eagle/Tina Cook

CANYON CITY – The Grant County Historical Museum decided to replicate an Indian rock art site that was destroyed during construction in the 1960s. The site was located about three miles east of Dayville.

“Rock art sites are fragile and many of them have been destroyed by development,” said Don Hann, forest archaeologist for the Malheur Forest. “The museum decided this was a nice way to illustrate a piece of history that we don’t see much of anymore.”

Members of the Grant County Art Association volunteered their talents to re-create the wall, which will be open for the public to view on May 4 in the Native American room at the Grant County Historical Museum.

The volunteers used sketches recorded in 1928 by Luther Cressman, the father of archaeology in Oregon, and Malcom Loring, who did rough sketches of the site a few years before it was destroyed.

The site was one of the largest Indian rock painting walls in Eastern Oregon and is similar to other rock art along the John Day and Columbia rivers.