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Natural Bridges National Monument - This monument of slickrock, ancient rock writing, American Indian ruins and three natural bridges is one of the most remote and least populated places in the lower 48 states.
The nearest town is Blanding, 40 miles to the east. Though reasonably close to Monument Valley, Lake Powell and Canyonlands National Park, Utahıs first national monument and one of the first dozen in the nation requires effort to visit. Tourists must really want to come here.
Perhaps that is part of its magic.
How did then-President Teddy Roosevelt discover this remote parcel of land in 1908 and make it one of the 18 national monuments, 150 national forests, 51 bird reserves, five national parks and four national game preserves that would be established during his tenure?
Perhaps the best way to explain it is to understand the power of the pen.
Though American Indians have roamed this region for more than 10,000 years, a gold prospector named Cass Hite who explored the area in 1883 with a Paiute guide known as ³Indian Joe² is credited with being the first Anglo to see the three bridges.
A few locals began taking folks on the long, difficult horseback ride into the bridges. And so it was that a Bluff cowboy named Al Scorup took Horace Long, a mining engineer from Salt Lake City, to see the bridges in 1902. Long produced a scientific report published in September 1904 in National Geographic magazine titled "The Colossal Natural Bridges of Utah."
That prompted two more expeditions to the bridges, one in 1905 and another two years later, and the publication of the first oil paintings of the three bridges by artist H.M.L. Culmer.
At the same time, according to National Park Service documents researched for the Natural Bridges' centennial celebration, a major conservation movement began in the United States.
One of its leaders was an Iowa congressman named John F. Lacey who in 1900 sponsored the act that bears his name, crafted to manage the taking of game on federal lands. It is still used to this day as an important law-enforcement tool to protect wildlife.
Two years later, the congressman toured the Southwest and saw the toll that looting was taking on ancient ruins. The result was the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gave the president the authority to declare portions of federal property a national monument. It was the same act that former President Bill Clinton would use to establish Utah's newest national monument, the Grand Staircase Escalante, several generations later.
In the meantine, a Bluff resident named Ezekiel (Zeke) Johnson began guiding visitors into the bridges and became a proponent of establishing it as a national monument. The National Park Service, established as a federal agency in 1916, made Johnson the first custodian-ranger of Natural Bridges, paying him $1 a month for his services.
In those days, the place was so remote that it was 100 miles from the nearest railroad at Thompson Springs. To get to the monument, park service documents say travelers would take a two-day horseback trip with Johnson through Comb Wash and the Bear's Ears Butte, to the old Spanish spur trail and finally down to a shelf just behind Owachomo Bridge.
According to Scott Ryan, who continues Johnson's legacy today as chief ranger of Natural Bridges National Monument, the small outpost Johnson established served the public until 1967 when the present-day access road and visitor center were built. About 90,000 people visit the monument every year.
Natural Bridges was the first place to have most of its operations powered by solar power which, when the now-defunct system went on line in 1980, was considered cutting edge. And, in 2006, Natural Bridges became the world's first park to be designated a "Dark Sky Park" because of the lack of artificial light in the area.
"You get a sense of history here," said Ryan from his small office in the visitor center. "As chief ranger of this park, I feel like I should be serving in the tradition of Mr. Johnson. That is very humbling."
Ryan tries to put himself in Johnson's early 1900 shoes and finds it hard to imagine the physical hardship of even reaching this place in addition to the vision it took to see the need to preserve special places.
"They had the great vision of preserving the spectacular parts of the U.S.," he said. "They seem to be giants. Comparatively, we live smaller lives . . . Those of us who consider it a special place, a preserved area, it is kind of a spiritual place to think this is where it all started."
The monument now features a paved entrance road, a campground, a fancy visitor center, video program and modern ranger residences.
But it began simply with the dream of pioneers who believed in conservation and stewardship of special places.
"We owe them a great debt," said Ryan. "It is overwhelming."
Tom Wharton can be contacted at wharton@sltrib.com. His phone number is 801-257-8909. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.