Dinosaur National Monument

We departed Craig, Colorado and traveled to Jensen, Utah. Our route on Interstate 40 would take us through both the Colorado side and Utah side of the Dinosaur National Monument. Our last stop in Colorado was in the town of Dinosaur, CO to get some information at the Visitor Center.

We drove the 110 miles in less than 2 hours and arrived at Outlaw Trail RV Park, our home for the next two days. We enjoyed having full hooks and took advantage of the amenities.

We relaxed on Saturday, July 19 resting up for our scheduled visit to the Dinosaur National Monument Quarry site on Sunday.

Here's an overview from the National Parks Service website I found interesting:

The First People - Dinosaur National Monument is home to a vast and rich cultural history. Since time immemorial, people have lived and migrated through here, drawn by the natural riches of the area. Proximity to the Green and Yampa Rivers provided a reliable water source, while the natural alcoves and canyons offered cool shade and respite from the desert sun. An abundance of archeological evidence, including stone tools, granaries, and homes reveal that people have lived in the area for at least 10,000 years. The presence of petroglyphs (etchings) and pictographs (paintings) on the rock faces throughout the monument show us that life was comfortable and allowed people to devote a substantial amount of time to the creation of these images. Many of the petroglyphs and pictographs found within Dinosaur National Monument are attributed to the Fremont peoples, whose descendants still reside in this area today.

We drove through the park and found some of the many petroglyphs (etchings) and pictographs (paintings) on the rock faces.

New Arrivals - In the 1700s, Spanish explorers arrived in the region. Descriptions of the area, like those provided in the journal from the Dominguez and Escalante Expedition, helped open the door for others from Europe and the eastern United States. Some of the first European visitors to this area were trappers and traders for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. In May 1825, a small group of these trappers set out from Green River, Wyoming in search of beaver pelts. They became some of the first to float down the Green River through what became Dinosaur National Monument (they got as far as the rapids at Disaster Falls). Settlers also came to the area throughout the 1800s. Those who had access to the rivers left their mark on the landscape with homesteads. Others dried up with drought and moved away. Today, the remains of many homesteads are found alongside petroglyphs and pictographs. Families of successful homesteaders continue to live in the area.

In a remote rock canyon deep in the heart of present-day Dinosaur National Monument, sits a lonely wood ranch house that once was home for a stoic woman with outlaw ties named Josie Bassett Morris, who lived there alone for more than 50 years.

This cabin was the home of Josie Barrett Morris from 1914 until 1964

In 1893, at the age of 19, Josie married Jim McKnight, the first of five husbands, with whom she had two sons; Crawford McKnight and Herbert “Chick” McKnight. Sources claim that she divorced four husbands, “allegedly running one off with a frying pan. A fifth husband died, reportedly of alcoholism, but rumors persist that Josie poisoned him.”

In 1914, at the age of 40, Josie, with help from her son Crawford, built the cabin at Cub Creek near Split Mountain, about 40 miles east of the town of Vernal. Josie chose a blissfully peaceful spot, building not only a home, but an outhouse, root cellar, chicken coop, tack shed, and hundreds of yards of rail fencing to corral a herd of unruly cows. A small creek that trickled from nearby Hog Canyon gave life to the ranch. Known far and wide as a colorful character, Josie became a bootlegger during Prohibition, making brandy, wine and whiskey. In her 60s she was accused, tried, and eventually acquitted of cattle rustling. She didn’t deny it, claiming it was retribution for the cattle that were stolen from her family, and the charges were dropped.

With cast-iron determination and unwavering self-reliance, Josie carved a life out of a place so rugged that few could imagine living there even today. Without electricity, hot and cold running water, neighbors, or any way to communicate with others, Josie typified the endurance of turn-of-the-century Utah pioneering. She tilled, plowed and planted, grew a garden and fruit trees; she tended to the land making it prosper under her solitary care. She lived there for the next 50 years, virtually alone.

Dinosaur National Monument - History was made again in 1909, when a paleontologist named Earl Douglass arrived on a mission from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His task was to find intact dinosaur bones and send them back to the museum for display. After searching for many weeks, his team found the first bones of what would soon become the Carnegie Quarry in Jensen, Utah. This small section of the Morrison rock formation would go on to yield over 350 tons of fossils and become one of the most significant paleontological finds of the 20th Century. On October 4, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson established the 80 acres around the Carnegie Quarry as Dinosaur National Monument to protect the enormous find. On July 14, 1938, the park was expanded another 200,000 acres by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This was an effort to protect the Green and Yampa Rivers, and the ecosystems that depend upon them.

We got an early start on Sunday to beat the heat. We arrived at the Visitor's Center where the shuttle transports visitors to the quarry site up the hill about a mile.

After our visit to the Quarry site Karen talked us into walking the Fossil trail 1.2 miles back down to the Visitor Center.

After a morning of exploration we returned to the trailer to shower and eat a light lunch before heading into Vernal, Utah 13 miles away to do some grocery shopping at Walmart, get some diesel fuel, DEF and dinner. We decided to celebrate Grace's 13th birthday dinner at Swain's Steakhouse.