Abajo Mountains
| Abajo Mountains | ||
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 Abajo Mountains |
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| Highest peak | Abajo Peak ( 3465 m ) | |
| location | Utah (USA) | |
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| Coordinates | 37 ° 51 ′ N , 109 ° 33 ′ W | |
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The Abajo Mountains , also known as the Blue Mountains among locals , are a volcanic mountain range of the Colorado Plateau in the southeastern US state of Utah , west of Monticello and north of Blanding in San Juan County . The mountain range is heavily forested and lies within the Manti-La Sal National Forest . Although the Spanish name means Low Mountains , the highest peak, Abajo Peak , reaches an altitude of 3,465 meters.
Geography and geology
The Abajo Mountain are west of US Highway 163 between the towns of Monticello and Blanding. The mountain range belongs to the Manti-La Sal National Forest and is known by local people as the Blue Mountains . There are several hiking trails, panoramic roads and campsites, but most of them are only used by locals because the mountains are relatively unknown. The summit of the Abajo Peak can be reached by car via a fairly good road that is only open a few months a year. However, there are some beautiful hiking routes up the mountain, which is wooded on the north side up to the summit. The Blue Mountain Ski Resort on the northeast side of the Abajo Peak was closed a few years ago due to insufficient profitability. The Abajo Mountains rise less abruptly from the surrounding desert plains than other mountains in the region. The mountain slopes rise gently up to a height of 2,300 to 2,700 meters and end in rounded mountain tops. While the dry south sides of the mountains are overgrown with grass, forests made of pine , spruce , fir and aspens can be found on the more humid north slopes . The mountains form a green island in the middle of a desert landscape that is predominantly overgrown with sagebrush .
The mountain range lies on the Colorado Plateau and, like the neighboring La Sal Mountains and the Henry Mountains , consists of igneous intrusions that are relatively resistant to erosion . That is why there are no spectacular rock formations to be found here. Some of these intrusions form laccolites that are embedded several kilometers below the surface . The predominant igneous rock consists of porphyry hornblende - diorite . The age of the deposits in the Abajo Mountains is estimated by geologists to be 22 to 29 million years.
history
The first known Indian culture in Utah was the Clovis culture , named after a site in New Mexico and characterized by its characteristic projectile points . The Clovis people lived around 11,600 to 10,700 BC. Around 100 AD, the Anasazi appeared in the southwest of what is now the United States with their mud buildings on or in rock walls. Around 1550, Spanish explorers coming from Mexico met the Indians from the Ute tribe who lived here . When Juan de Oñate established Spanish rule in New Mexico at the end of the 16th century, several hundred horses came with the Spanish to the area and a few of them became the property of the Indians. As early as the middle of the 17th century, the Ute used the horse as a pack and mount animal and were able to colonize the mountains. The first Mormons reached today's Bluff around 1880 via the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail . From there they settled in the area around 70 km to the north near today's Monticello. They first set up their farms on the unpredictable San Juan River . After several floods, they moved to the higher country at the foot of the Abajo Mountains, where several rivers and streams came down from the mountains, including the Piute Spring , the Soldier's Spring and the Montezuma Creek . Mormon leader Francis A. Hammond sent several Mormon families to the site of today's Monticello to build a new settlement there.
Although the Old Spanish Trail passed close to the foot of the mountains at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was not until 1880 that cattle breeders like Edmund and Harold Carlisle or IW Lacy discovered the grazing land for their herds of cattle. In the summer cowboys drove the herds to graze on the slopes of the Abajo Mountains, Elk Ridge and La Sal Mountains and in the cold season they found shelter and food in the canyons and foothills. Tensions arose with the indigenous people, who saw their livelihood disappear in the mouths and under the hooves of nearly 20,000 cattle. Soon the area was overgrazed and the erosion did the rest, so that the mountains lost their former appearance.
A violent conflict developed between the Mormons, Carlisle Ranch cowboys, and Ute Indians over water and land rights. This was followed by warning shots, heated arguments and regular skirmishes. The Mormons learned from their attorneys that the owner of the Carlisle Ranch had no legal water and land claims in the area, and in turn they are claiming the water from the Southfork and three-quarters of the water from the Northfork of Montezuma Creek that they were granted. Monticello was founded in 1887 and Blanding followed in 1905 . The water supply to the villages continued to cause problems and some of the water for Blanding had to be brought there via a tunnel. In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt founded the Monticello Forest Reserve , which comprised the Abajo and Elk Mountains with a total of around 867 km². Two years later the La Sal Mountains were added and the name changed to La Sal National Forest .
During World War II , vanadium and uranium were discovered in San Juan County , both of which were raw materials for the manufacture of atomic bombs . In 1943, the production of uranium and vanadium for the Manhattan Project began in Monticello . The uranium mines in San Juan County were among the richest in the United States. In 1960, funding by the US Atomic Energy Commission was terminated and extensive work began between 1989 and 2004 to dispose of the contaminated soil and to move all radioactive material to an interim storage facility near Monticello. Many residents of Monticello complain that the radioactivity of uranium processing is the cause of cancer among residents and employees of the production company. A law passed in 2009 guarantees all citizens who lived in Monticello between 1941 and 2000 free cancer examinations.
In 1950 the 4,900 km² Manti-La Sal Forest was established. Today the Forest Service manages an area with marked hiking trails, campsites, numerous wild animals and a breathtaking view of green mountains that contrast with the red-brown lowlands full of natural sandstone monuments. The region is still relatively unknown and not as crowded as the nearby national parks.
Web links
- Abajo Mountains , English
- Abajo Peak , English
- Official website of the Forest Service , English
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Abajo Peak , accessed July 11, 2014
- ↑ Colin Taylor et al. a .: Indians, The Native Americans , Bertelsmann Club GmbH, Gütersloh 1992, p. 126.
- ^ A b c Utah History Blue Mountain ( October 9, 2014 memento on the Internet Archive ), accessed July 19, 2014
- ↑ a b History of Monticello ( Memento from January 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 11, 2014