| Page Views: 326 Last Visit to Monument Valley State Park: November, 2008 | Monument Valley State Park by Yaqui - last update: Jul 1, 2009 |
Elevation: 5,564' above sea level
Size: 91,696 acresThe valley's earliest inhabitants include the Ice Age Paleo-Indian hunters (12,000-6,000 B.C.), Archaic hunter-gatherers (6,000 B.C.-A.D. 1), and Anasazi farmers (A.D. 1-1300). The latter group's pottery styles reflect a regional variation known as Kayenta Anasazi. As early as the 1300s, San Juan Band Paiutes frequented the area as temporary hunters and gatherers. They named it "Valley or Treeless Area Amid the Rocks" and vested the landscape with supernatural qualities and mythological stories. For example, Totem Pole Rock is said to be a god held up by lightning, El Capitan a sky-supporter, and all of Monument Valley near Goulding's Trading Post a hogan that faces east.
Please checkout another wonderful page of a wonderful VTer who loves to travel with his lovely family:)Jumpingnorman |
|  | Spanish and Mexican incursion into the area was either exploratory or punitive (in their attempts to control Navajo raiders). In the early 1860s Kit Carson followed suit by sending Utes into the region to capture Navajos, who fled to peripheral areas such as Navajo Mountain. The majority of the Navajos returned from captivity in 1868 and soon confronted miners seeking silver. Ernest Mitchell and James Merrick, two of the most notable, were killed by Utes or Paiutes near monoliths that still bear the miners' names. |
In 1884 President Chester Arthur added this region by executive order to the Navajo Reservation, but white men's interest in the area did not wane. Prospectors continued to search for silver, and in 1906 John Wetherill and Clyde Colville established a trading post at Oljeto that remained in operation for four years until Wetherill moved to Kayenta. In 1924 Harry Goulding established a post which is still in operation today, although under different management. During the 1950s Goulding encouraged the employment of Navajos in the uranium industry as well as in holding parts in the movie industry. The Navajo tribe has also established a tribal park that includes some of the most dramatic monoliths, making the area accessible to thousands of tourists who visit the region each year. http://www.onlineutah.com/monumentvalleyhistory.shtml | | |
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| Pros: | "It is beautiful, historic, and sacred!" | | Cons: | "Too Many Stray Dogs....so be careful!" | | In A Nutshell: | "A place of mystical and magical landscapes!" |
Yaqui's Monument Valley State Park Travel Tips
 Comments for Yaqui about Monument Valley State Park | | | | |
Cristian_Uluru Wed Sep 23, 2009 14:07 UTC
Wonderful page! Amazing photos!!! I wish to visit the Monument Valley one day! | msbrandysue Thu Sep 3, 2009 01:52 UTC
Your photography is really wonderful, Dee :) The buttes are so beautiful and you provide so much information on them!! Another great page | Zvrlj Mon Jul 6, 2009 19:09 UTC
One your page leads to another... This is even more amazing place... Beyond words. Great photos, great tips... Thank you for sharing. | yumyum Wed Jul 1, 2009 21:05 UTC
I love those rock formations. In fact I really like deserts with their wide open spaces. |
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