You are here

Colorado National Monument To Celebrate Its 106th Birthday

Share

Colorado National Monument will celebrate its 106th birthday on Wednesday/NPS

When founder John Otto first arrived in the Grand Valley in 1906, he combed through the remote canyons like few had done before. He dedicated his life to making the canyons a national park so all Americans could enjoy them. Otto wrote a petition to create a national park and knocked on doors until he'd won the support of nearly every local businessman and leader, encouraging federal representatives of the day to introduce a bill.

Just when it looked like a sure thing, a congressional slowdown threatened the legislation and Otto's dream. As fortune would have it, President William Taft had visited the Grand Valley and never forgot the magnificent monoliths of the canyons. President Taft believed the canyons deserved national park status, but the only tool available to him as president to save one of America's most unique landscapes was the Antiquities Act.  

With the full support of local leaders, the president signed a Presidential Proclamation on May 24, 1911, creating Colorado National Monument. This was long before the creation of the majority of our national parks. In 1911, Colorado National Monument was the 30th unit of the National Park Service.

To celebrate, the park will host a party at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 24, at the visitor center. A posthumous award will honor President Taft and will be accepted by a local family descendant, Taft Moore.

Since its establishment, Colorado National Monument has been a prolific and consistent economic driver in the Grand Valley, generating hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs for the local economy in the past 106 years.  

Comments

I wonder if Grand Junction is the best place to base if you want to live w/in a reasonable distance (+/-1 days drive) of a slew of National Parks?  Maybe they should move large chunks of the Interior department out there.


Yes, GJ is National Park central and surrounded by BLM and Forest Service lands as well.  Outdoor recreation has become it's largest ecoomic driver and is rapidly growing.  GJ would welcome the addition of the Interior Department to our NPS, BLM and Forest Service agencies.

 


Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.