History of Arches National Park

By Jacob

Arches National Park is located in east central Utah near the town of Moab and north of the Colorado River. The park is protected by the national parks service for its over 2000 natural arches within the park's boundaries. The park has attracted people for centuries before people of european dissent even had knowledge of this land.

When the nomadic people came across the Bering Land Bridge from Asia they crossed this area. Evidence has shown that some rock has been chiseled away by the ancient peoples. A form of quartz that is perfect for creating tools has been taken away leaving debris the archeologist believe is from the nomadic people. Eventually, people had begun to settle down after the discovery of farming. Farming allowed people to stay in one spot instead of moving from area to area to gather resources. Evidence has shown that the people who settled in Arches are the same as those who settled in what is now Mesa Verde National Park. There have been few dwellings found within arches, but there has been their art. There are many petroglyph panels within Arches National Park as well as the surrounding area. The petroglyphs are different from those of the Fremont Culture in Capitol Reef National Park. The pueblo people left the area and were replaced by more modern tribes such as the Ute. They would be the rulers of this area until the Europeans began to arrive in the area.

The Spanish Empire were the first Europeans to set eyes upon this land. They were trying to find routes through the southwest to the missions of California. They explored the entire region including all five Utah National Park. The spanish would go through the Moab Fault right past the visitor center of the park unaware of the beauty of the plateau of arches. Denis Julien is known for carving on rocks his name and the date leaving a trail for historians and archeologists to follow. A rock in the area of the park is dated June 9, 1844. The mormons in Salt Lake City sent people to settle Utah and they established an outpost called Elk Mission. The mission is located in modern day Moab. The Ute drove the mormons out of the outpost and would not be seen again until the modern day founding of Moab.

In 1923, Frank Waldleigh, employee on the western railroad, contacted the National Parks Service alerting them to the arches of the area. Wadleigh along with a photographer and local man explored much of the park becoming the first people of european dissent to fully explore the area. Alexander Ringhoffer, the local man, suggested to Stephen Mather, Director of the Parks Service, that the area be made into a national monument. Support for the creation of the park grew with the help of Laurence Gold, a geologist studying the La Sal Mountains. After the inauguration of President Hoover he signed an order creating Arches National Monument given to the president under the Antiquities Act. The park was divided into two small disconteed units at Devils Garden and the Windows Section. The successor of President Hoover, President Franklin Roosevelt, enlarged the national monument and created the Civilian Conservation Corps which would build roads and visitor facilities in the park. President Johnson enlarged the national monument significantly over the modern park limits. President Nixon signed a bill that created Arches National Park but also shrunk the size of the park to its modern day borders.

Tags

Arches

Moab

Utah