 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
Dinosaur National Monument is located outside of Jensen (Utah) overlooking the Green River. A large glass enclosed building covers part of the quarry where thousands of bones from over 500 different dinosaurs have been recovered. Excavations at the site have been discontinued, but there are still over 1,500 bones partially exposed for visitors to view in the rock where they were discovered (known as the "Wall of Bones"). The dinosaur bones are from the Jurassic Period and are estimated to be 150 million years old.
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
Outside of the building I met a friendly old Stegosaurus that I had first encountered at the 1964 New York World's Fair. She looked exactly like she did the last time I saw her, but I have aged a few years. She has a twin named "Wally" that lives in Massachusetts.
Along the Green River cliffs in Dinosaur National Monument there are several petroglyph sites that were made by the Fremont Indians about a thousand years ago. Some of the humanlike figures are decorated with headdresses, earrings, and necklaces. The true meaning of the petroglyphs remains a mystery, but it is known that the Fremont people hunted deer, bighorn sheep, small mammals, and birds in the area and also grew corn, beans, and squash in the rich soil along the river.
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
Josie Bassett's 1913 log cabin that she built herself is also located in the same general area of the Park. The cabin is left open so that visitors can walk through the building to see how Josie lived for 50 years.
Bassett grew up on a ranch in Brown's Park about 50 miles away from the current Visitor Center in Dinosaur National Monument. An informational flyer stated that "Josie's family hosted many guests in their home, including some outlaws like Butch Cassidy, which fostered in Josie a strong sense of hospitality, generosity and community." She was also known to be a very independent person.
The flyer stated that she loved the "wild and dangerous, romantic and adventurous...American West...Josie represented a progressive style of womanhood...[she] married five times, and divorced four husbands in a time when divorce was very rare...she could work alongside the cowhands and run an efficient ranch...During Prohibition in the 1920s and into the 1930s, Josie brewed apricot brandy and chokecherry wine...She was tried and acquitted twice for cattle rustling when she was in her 60s." Josie lived to be 90 years old.
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
Turtle Rock is located along Club Creek Road in the Park, along with two campgrounds that are adjacent to the Green River.
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
Just outside of the Park there are photo opportunities with two different dinosaurs. Historically, there was a saddle on the neck of the first dinosaur and you could sit in the saddle and have your picture taken. However, the saddle has been removed and people are no longer allowed to sit or climb on the dinosaur.
As the road enters Vernal (Utah) there is a pink dinosaur holding a sign that says "Vernal Utah's Dinosaur Land." There is another dinosaur downtown that we were told dresses for the season, including Christmas lights in December!
The Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum has an amazing collection of dinosaur fossils and minerals, some of which glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light.
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
The Field House also has its own dinosaur zoo - petting not allowed!
 |
| Picture by Kolohe |
Before leaving Dinosaur Land we stopped by the Wells Fargo Bank on Main Street in Vernal - "The Bank That Was Shipped By Mail." A plaque in front of the Bank states that in 1916 Zions First National Bank wanted to build a branch office in Vernal, but the cost to ship the bricks from Salt Lake City to Vernal was prohibitively expensive. Then, the Bank discovered that they could ship 250,000 pounds of mail-ordered bricks by US Post Office mail for a cost that came out to be seven cents postage per brick, which was half the rate of normal freight. The postage was paid and today it is the only known bank that was shipped by mail.
No comments:
Post a Comment