About

when the 50-ton sandstone slab on which they were carved fell onto Kentucky Highway 66 on December 7, 1994, the rock was not simply bulldozed into a ditch. It was carefully hoisted by crane onto a flatbed truck and driven 20 miles to the county seat of Manchester, where it was set on a concrete base and protected under a custom-built metal shelter. James Burchell wrote the text for two signs flanking the slab, calling attention to several of its inscriptions. He also wrote a booklet that went into more detail, naming the rock The Stone of Witness, a nod to its place in both American history and Christian gospel-spreading (Despite this, most people still call it the Red Bird Petroglyph).