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Preface XI
History of the Monument 1
Early history of the region 5
Prehistoric people 5
Late arrivals 10
Early settlement 10
The Brown-Stanton river expedition 11
Kodel’s gold mine 12
Recent cave dweller 13
Artesian wells 14
Geographic setting 16
The geologic story begins 17
Ancient rocks and events 24
A great gap in the rock record 26
The age of reptiles 27
Early landscape 28
Ancient sand dunes 29
The rains came 32
Another gap in the rock record 35
The sea to the west 39
Deposits and events east of the sea 39
Dinosaurs roam the Monument 47
Dinosaurs on the move 53
Yet another gap in the rock record 54
Peat bogs 55
The sea covers the Plateau 56
The sea’s final retreat 56
End of the dinosaurs 60
The age of mammals 61
Early deposits and events 63
Lake Uinta 63
The mountains rise again 64
Nearby lava flows 71
Ancestral Colorado River 72
Piracy on the high plateaus 72
The age of man 76
The ice age 77
Capture of East Creek 78
Canyon cutting 78
A look into the future 83
How to see the Monument 85
Trips through and around the Monument 88
From Grand Junction through the Redlands to the West Entrance
of the Monument 88
From Fruita to the West Entrance of the Monument 96
Through the Monument from West to East Entrances 97
From the East Entrance to Grand Junction 118
Through Glade Park from the northwest arm of Ute Canyon to
Columbus Canyon 119
From Glade Park to Grand Junction via the Little Park Road 121
Résumé of geologic history and relation to other National Parks
and Monuments in the Colorado Plateau 125
Acknowledgments 130
References 131
Additional reading 133
Index 135