Independence Rock was a special landmark for most of the hundreds of thousands of emigrants who passed its imposing granite mass while traveling on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails. They left their names inscribed on the Rock in tar and paint and stone.Levida Hileman has spent countless hours exploring every square inch of Independence Rock's complex surface in search of every remaining record of those who came this way. In this book, Levida Hileman presents an account of that work in an interesting, easily readable format. In Tar and Paint and Stone brings Independence Rock and nearby Devil's Gate back to life at their most historic of times.Includes an alphabetical list of over 2000 inscriptions which will be of indispensable importance to genealogists and trail buffs.