Pioneer Park
In Memory of Dorothy Adams

This park, located at 170 South Main Street in Monticello, Utah has many pioneer relics and plaques describing them and the local history.

A Tribute to Dorothy Rasmussen Adams
Born 1910 – Died 1998

Dorothy Rasmussen loved the people, culture, and history of Monticello, Utah. She arrived in her adopted hometown of Monticello in 1915 with her family. Following her graduation from high school, she entered the University of Utah and graduated in 1935 with a degree in education. Her first teaching position was in Sego, Utah. Later she taught second grade in Moab, Utah.

While working in Moab, Dorothy became reacquainted with Donald Adams, a childhood friend. They married in 1937 and moved to Monticello where she continued teaching elementary school. She and Donald had two children, so her teaching time was reduced. She continued to support the war effort through the American Red Cross and raised funds to aid people in Europe.

In 1944 Dorothy became Elementary Supervisor for the San Juan School District. She visited every grade school in the district. She often became stuck driving over dirt roads to reach some of the schools, but quickly learned to dig herself out of the sand. Over the years she taught at Monticello Elementary School and became chairperson of the Library Board for San Juan County and opened the elementary school library to summer readers. Dorothy and Donald were good friends with Harry and Mike Goulding and helped with legal matters for the establishment of Goulding’s Trading Post in Monument Valley.

As Monticello changed with the advent of uranium mining, Dorothy saw opportunities to help improve the quality of the town’s amenities by creating a golf course, swimming pool, offering a Community Concert Series, and getting the Utah Symphony to perform in Monticello. When community libraries became popular, Dorothy was appointed to both the county and state library Boards. Dorothy helped design the Blanding and Monticello libraries and insisted that local materials be used; so the red rock exteriors were from quarries in San Juan County.

Dorothy later spent hours researching the history of the original settlement of Monticello. With the capable modeling skills of Clio Nebeker, they created the Little Town diorama, now located in the Frontier Museum-Welcome Center, accompanied by The Little Green Book, a building-by-building history keyed to the diorama.

Dorothy’s efforts at community enhancement were supported by her family, especially Donald. Eventually she created Pioneer Park on a parcel of her land and worked with Rusty Musselman and other community members to build a replica of the first church in Monticello. Other buildings were added—including a Hispanic cabin and oven built by Pee Wee Barela; a Ute tepee and blacksmith shop donated by Dick Meyer; and an early family cabin donated by the Dean Robinson family. Pioneer Park was then donated to a private foundation and subsequently deeded to Monticello City. Dorothy Rasmussen Adams was committed to the betterment of Monticello. She enjoyed hearing about successes of former students and was heartened by the broadening of town services and attractions. She was a caring and skilled advocate for her town. She died in 1998, and this park is now cared for by Monticello City and the Monticello Rotary Club.

Welcome to Pioneer Park
A Place of History

This park was created as a tribute to the rich and unique heritage of those who settled the Monticello area. As you explore the Park, you will discover some of the early history and ancestry of the community. Early settlers had to contend with Indians, gun-toting cowboys, and severe weather conditions. Pioneer Park is a reminder of the past and of those who have sacrificed and contributed in an effort to increase the bounty of today.

Please be respectful of the surroundings so that all who visit may enjoy the experience. A special thanks to Dorothy Adams for making Pioneer Park a reality.

Old Log Church
Center of the Community

This log church is a replica of the first church in Monticello. The original church, built in 188 for religious worship, also became the core of community activities. It was a school, a refuge for the homeless, a place to dance, a site for public meetings, and a place to mourn the dead.

In addition, this one-room church served as the heart of history-making events. Its first church meeting found the Waltons, Jones, Adams, Butts, Hydes, Rogers and other pioneer families in attendance. Although they met on a dirt floor the first year, they were proud of their church and the community’s progress.

Historical Gathering

As part of the Pioneer Day celebration on July 24, 1891, the church served as a dance hall. Charles Walton played the fiddle and his son, Charles, played the little organ. John Rogers called out the square dance. The merriment suddenly ended as someone rushed in and announced that Tom Roach had stabbed Frank Hyde. A shot was then heard from outside the church building and Bill McCord, a Carlisle cowboy, was found dead. At that point it is reported that Tom Roach held everyone at gun point until Jane Walton stepped forward to reason with him. Another shot was heard and Jane was killed. Tom escaped and was not heard from again.

Log Cabin
An Early Pioneer Home

This original log cabin is representative of the housing of the early pioneers in the area. It was first occupied by three brothers, Warren, John, and Scotty Williamson during the 1880s in Dry Valley., Utah. It is believed that the Williamson brothers built the home and homesteaded the land on which it was located. Their mother, a widow of a Civil War veteran, lived there on a very small pension.

Home Sweet Home

Carl and Kathryn T Williamson were married in 1933 and made this log cabin their first home. Carl worked for the Williamson brothers for the first few years of his marriage, earning $15 per month in cash and $15 per month from calf sales. These earnings were carefully saved to pay baby expenses. Income from their farm products paid daily expenses.

Cowboy Tack Shed
Workstation of the West

The first white settlers of the region were cattlemen. Cattle were first introduced into the San Juan County-Blue Mountain area during the 1870s. Large numbers of the animals were placed on the thousands of acres of lush grasses which grew in the area. Spud Hudson, who came in 1878, dominated the cattle industry until about 1883.

Home on the Range

Monticello endured several typical “old west” conflicts between cowboys and Indians. The cowboy activities of imbibing and shoot ’em ups, were, as expected, a considerable contrast to the Mormon culture of its more settled residents. Many of these cowboys came into San Juan from Texas. They came to this remote canyon country to avoid the law. Some stayed in the county, developing their own cattle companies and other businesses. And became prominent citizens.

The chuck wagon, an invention of Texas cattleman John Goodnight, was declared an ideal device and was widely copied throughout the West. Besides grub, water, pots and pans, medicines, and other supplies, the cowboys’ bedrolls and few personal possessions were carried on the wagon.

Tepee
A Ute Indian Home

Until about the year 1875, nomadic Ute and Piute Indians were the only human inhabitants of this area. The Ute Nation included most of Utah and western Colorado. The Navajo people seldom ventured north of the San Juan River to this area until 1900.

On the Move

Displacement of the Indian began with the advent of cattlemen, many of whom were Texans, followed by the arrival of Mormon settlers. A reservation was established in southern Colorado, and most of the Utes were relocated on the reservation. A few of the Piutes refused and became renegades, stealing cattle and threatening cattlemen and settlers. A number of skirmishes occurred in which both Indians and whites were killed. Most notorious of the renegades were Poke, Posey, and Tse-ne-gat. These people were part of the last Indian uprising in the United States.

On November 13, 1888, the Ute Chiefs signed a treaty selling the Colorado reservation to the Government and accepting the San Juan County reservation. The treaty, although signed by the Indians, was not approved by Congress. The Indians then returned to the reservation.

Sod Roof Cabin
A Spanish-American Home

Hispanics have a very long history in the Southwest, dating back to the early 1600s. The Old Spanish Trail trade from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to California, passed through San Juan County near Monticello. There were no supply stations nor permanent settlements know in the area until the Mormon settlers arrived at Bluff in 1880 and Monticello in 1888.

Establishing a New Abode

Spanish-American sheepherders were recruited by local stockmen, some of whom were Land Grant families from New Mexico. Many of these people established their own homesteads in the area.

The earliest known permanent Spanish settlers were the family of Ramon Gonzalez in 1900. Other Spanish families migrated from New Mexico to the Monticello area in the early 1900s. Among them were the Manzanares, Gallegos, and Jaramillo families. This small, sod-roof cabin is typical of their dwellings.