Colorado National Monument

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.
Come with us today as we visit a National Park in the western state
of Colorado.

We also tell about one man who
made sure the beautiful natural area would be protected for all
time. He did this by working to make it part of the National Park
System. Today we visit the Colorado National Monument.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

The Colorado National Monument is not as famous as some other
National Parks. It does not get as many visitors as the Grand
Canyon, Yosemite or the Yellowstone National Parks. However the
Colorado Monument has a strange and exciting beauty all its own.

It is similar to a great painting
drawn by nature on to living rock. Minerals in the area helped
nature create a painting that is black, light brown, dark brown and
many different colors of red. Often the colors seem to change as
clouds block the sun. At other times the sun makes the many
different colors seem to burn brightly.

VOICE TWO:

The Colorado National Monument is an area of great extremes. The
ground rises very sharply from the surrounding flat desert area. The
mountains here are part of the western Rocky Mountains. It is an
area of huge rock formations created during more than
one-thousand-million years. Volcanoes, great rivers, wind, rain, ice
and the birth and death of huge mountains formed this beautiful
area.

It is not possible to see this extremely beautiful area and not
feel the power of nature. Giant mountains seem to have been cut
sharply with a huge knife. Their sides are smooth and clean. Other
areas of the same mountain seem to have been torn apart in some
violent struggle. These areas are filled with huge piles of broken
rock.

Walls of rock are twisted and have
huge holes pushed into their sides. There are tall finger- like
rocks that reach far into the sky. Many of these tall objects look
as if they will fall down any minute. Other parts of the same area
seem to have long, straight lines cut into the rock. It is possible
to count these lines. Each line represents a time long ago when
these mountains were at the bottom of an ancient ocean.

Each line was formed by dirt, mud and sand that gathered at the
bottom of the ancient ocean. Then, as time passed, the bottom of
this ancient ocean floor was pushed high into the air by huge
pressures deep in the Earth.

VOICE ONE:

Scientists have found seashells high in these mountains and the
fossil remains of ancient ocean creatures. Near the Colorado
National Park researchers have found the huge fossil remains of
ancient reptiles called dinosaurs. One fossil skeleton found early
last century was the largest fossil dinosaur ever found at that
time. It was huge and surprised scientists around the world.
Scientists are still busy looking for remains of these creatures
that died millions of years ago.

However, not all of the animals found in or near the park are
fossils. Because the area is desert, it is easy to believe that
nothing is living here.

But if you are very quiet and stay very still you can see much
life in the park. Mountain lions live here. It is very difficult to
see them. However, visitors sometimes see the foot marks these big
cats leave in the soft sand.

VOICE TWO:

If you look closely, you can see small rabbits serching for food
or water early in the morning. On hot days you might see deer
resting in the shade of the juniper trees. The deer are protected
from hunters. Often they show little fear of people.

Visitors must be careful not to surprise a small reptile called
the midget faded rattlesnake. The bite of this snake can be very
painful and make a victim very sick.

At first, the Colorado National Monument seems to be nothing more
than huge and very colorful rocks shaped by nature. But if you spend
a few hours walking slowly on its many paths, you soon learn that it
is very much alive.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The forces of nature created the Colorado National Monument. But
a man named John Otto was responsible for making sure this beautiful
area became part of the United States National Park System. John
Otto recognized the great natural beauty of this place and wanted it
to be protected.

John Otto was an unusual man. He lived alone much of the time in
what later became the park. He did not build a house. He moved from
place to place and lived in a temporary cloth home.

In a letter written in nineteen-oh-seven, Mister Otto told a
friend the area made him feel like it was the heart of the world. He
told his friend he was going to stay and build paths and work to
inform people about this beautiful work of nature. Some people
thought he was insane.

But John Otto began his campaign to protect the area by writing
letters. He acted as a guide for people who read his letters and
came to see the great natural beauty for themselves. He asked
everyone who visited for their support in his campaign to have the
federal government protect the area.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen-eleven, President William Taft signed the documents
making the area a national monument. It would forever be part of the
National Park System and protected by the government.

President Taft also appointed Mister Otto as the new park's first
top official. John Otto was only paid one dollar a year for this
work. He was not expected to really work at the park, just deal with
administrative duties, which were few.

However, John Otto did work in the park. By nineteen-twenty-one
he had finished building one of the first major paths. This made it
much easier for people to visit the area. He built it using simple
tools and without much help. It is called the Trail of the Serpent.
He was also very careful to build the trail without damaging any of
the area's natural beauty. It was one of the first roads into the
park that could be used by an automobile.

VOICE ONE:

High up in the Colorado National Monument is a steel sign that
honors John Otto. It has been placed into the wall of a rock
formation that John Otto loved. The marker says: "In recognition of
John Otto, trail builder, promoter, and first custodian of Colorado
National Monument, established May twenty-fourth, nineteen-eleven."
John Otto would have liked that.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Colorado National Monument is almost
eight-thousand-three-hundred hectares. It is near the city of Grand
Junction, Colorado, not far from the state border with Utah. The
area is known for its mountains and the beauty of the desert. It is
also here that the last of the Rocky Mountains begin to drop away to
flat land.

Although the Colorado National
Monument is smaller than most National Parks, about
five-hundred-thousand visitors come each year. Most visitors drive
on the interstate highway system.

Interstate Highway Seventy is only a few kilometers from the
park. When a visitor leaves the road, the path becomes much smaller
and begins to rise into the mountains. Signs urge safety. Other
signs urge the driver of the vehicle to slow down.

VOICE ONE:

The small road begins to turn left, then sharply to the right,
then left again. At the same time it moves up and up many meters at
a time with each turn.

At first, mountains surround the road on both sides of the car.
Then, without warning, the little road moves into the clear and
visitors can see hundreds of meters down into the valley. For a
little more than six kilometers the road twists and turns high into
the park.

At the top of the little road visitors reach the National Park
Visitors Center. The modern building provides information about the
park. It has a small store where visitors can buy gifts. The
Visitors Center also includes a small museum with fossils,
photographs and the story of John Otto.

VOICE TWO:

When visitors have collected the information or gifts they want,
most continue through the building to an observation area in back of
the building. Slowly they walk to the very edge of the mountain.

In this great open space, the finger-like rocks seem to reach for
the sky. Far below is the great natural beauty that took more than
one- thousand-million years for nature to create.

And, it is here they can begin to understand why John Otto loved
this place so much and why he worked so hard to protect it.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by
Mario Ritter. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another
EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.