JOHN OTTO, fantastic father of Colorado National Monument, and his helpers. Photograph courtesy Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce. (Fig. 1)
In 1924 John Otto got the idea that the Monument should include a herd of big game, so he talked the Colorado Game and Fish Department into shipping six young elk, and he got the local Elks Lodge to pay the transportation costs. The elk were turned loose in Monument Canyon, but they found the sparse vegetation and scant water supply ill suited to their needs, so after a few years they found a way out over the rim and migrated about 20 miles south of the Monument to lush high country where they joined with native elk and multiplied to become the ancestors of the present fine herd on Piñon Mesa (shown in [fig. 34]D). Occasionally a few return to the Monument and may be seen mainly in Ute Canyon. Native mule deer are frequently seen in and near the Monument.
Far from being discouraged, Otto then hatched the idea to start a buffalo[6] herd to be purchased by donations of buffalo nickels from school children and by contributions from the Odd Fellows and others. He finally raised enough money to get the patient Game and Fish Department to send him two cows and one bull. Unfortunately the bull died, so Otto talked the National Park Service into shipping him a bull from Yellowstone National Park. This time success crowned his efforts, and the small herd eventually multiplied to as many as 45 animals, but generally the herd has been kept at about 20-25 head ever since. You may spot some of them when you gaze down into Monument or Ute Canyons or when you drive past the northeastern boundary. Rarely, you may spot one in Red Canyon.
At the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Ute Avenue in Grand Junction is a most unusual object, which illustrates yet another peculiarity of John Otto—fantastic father of Colorado National Monument ([fig. 2]). Its history is best told by quoting from Al Look,[7] though its purpose still remains a mystery.
One day a horse drawn dray backed up to a vacant lot on Grand Junction’s Main Street [corner 6th] and unloaded a granite cube four feet square, carved on two sides. It weighed more than a ton and Otto supervised the setting.
One side [now facing west and not visible in [fig. 2]] showed a three foot circle containing a swastika with a five pointed star in each quarter. Above the emblem was carved “Rock of Ages” and below read “Cross of Ages.” The second side [now facing south, and shown in [fig. 2]] was beyond normal comprehension. Two large W’s on either side of a small swastika were over the letters or initials P.P., then four chain links with the letters T, H, L, J. inscribed, followed by the initials I.E. Below on the left was “1918,” over “Year 1”. On the right was “Old Count” and under it “New Count.” Between them stands the word ‘MARCH.’ Below this are abbreviations for the seven days of the week with the figure 1 under MON ending with a 6 under SAT. The bottom line [most of which is barely visible in the photograph] contained the figure 7 in a circle, a carpenter’s square, a small rectangle, probably representing a level, a plumb bob, a carpenter’s compass and a circle showing the western hemisphere. That is all. It made sense to John Otto because from somewhere he gathered considerable money to have this monument carved by the local gravestone merchant. It stood for several years to mystify pedestrians, and was finally moved beside the Redlands road to the [east entrance of] Colorado Monument where it is now hidden by weeds.[8]
It was still there in the 50’s when my family and I were startled to find it. We were afraid it might be lost forever so are glad it finally found a safe resting place on a concrete slab at the museum. I shall greatly appreciate hearing from any reader who can decipher this enigma.
JOHN OTTO’S MONUMENT, at southwest corner of the Historical Museum and Institute of Western Colorado, at northeast corner of Fourth Street and Ute Avenue, Grand Junction. View looking north. Face is 4 feet square. (Fig. 2)
Otto’s rock is at the southwest corner of The Historical Museum and Institute of Western Colorado. The main attraction inside is a life-size skeleton of Allosaurus ([fig. 23]), whose bones are exact plastic replicas of real ones at the museum of Brigham Young University, at Provo, Utah. The painstaking casting of the “bones” and assembly of the self-supporting skeleton was done by Al T. Look, son of author Al Look listed under “References.” The museum also houses other items of interest from the Grand Junction area.