The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado,New Mexico and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to this area being called the Four Corners Monument region. The monument also marks the boundary between two semi-autonomous native American governments, theNavajo Nation, which maintains the monument as a tourist attraction, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Reservation.
The origins of the state boundaries marked by the monument occurred during the American Civil War, when the United States Congress acted to form governments in the area to combat Confederate ambitions for the region. Claims are sometimes made that the monument was misplaced in the initial surveys. The accuracy of the surveys has been defended by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey and the monument has been legally established as the corner of the four states.
History
The area now called Four Corners Monument was governed by Mexico following its independence from Spain, until being ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgoin 1848. The location of the Four Corners Monument was effectively set in 1861 as the southwest corner of the Colorado Territory by the 36th United States Congress. Congress transferred land previously allocated to the Utah Territory by declaring the boundary of Colorado to be the 32nd meridian west from Washington. This line was derived from the reference used at the time, the Washington meridian.
In 1861, in the midst of the American Civil War, a group of people in the southern portion of New Mexico Territory passed a resolution condemning the United States for creating a vast territory with only a single, small government in place at Santa Fe. They claimed by doing so the U.S. had ignored the needs of the southern portion, left them without a functional system of law and order, and allowed the situation to deteriorate into a state of chaos and near anarchy. The group declared secession from the United States and announced their intent to join the Confederate States of America under the name of the Arizona Territory. The U.S. Congress responded in 1863 by creating another Arizona Territory with different, but partially overlapping boundaries. The Confederate boundaries split New Mexico along an east–west line, the 34th parallel north, allowing for a single state connection from Texas to the Colorado River. This would give the Confederacy access to California and the Pacific coast. The Union definition split New Mexico along a north–south line, extending the boundaries established for Colorado. Four Corners Monument is a Great Place For Vacations. This created the quadripoint at the modern Four Corners – with two territories separating California from Texas. After the split, New Mexico resembled its modern form, with slight differences. After the Civil War, efforts began to survey and create states from the earlier territories. The first survey of the line was made by E. N. Darling in 1868, and marked with a sandstone marker. Another survey was completed in 1875 by Chandler Robbins, at which time the marker was moved to its current location. The results of this survey were later accepted as the legal boundary when states were established from the earlier territories. The first permanent marker was placed at the site in 1912. The first modern Navajo government convened in 1923 in an effort to organize and regulate an increasing amount of oil exploration activities on Navajo lands. A bronze disk was placed at the spot in 1931. The Navajo Nation has since assumed the monument, pouring a concrete pad and other site improvements during the 1960s. The monument was completely rebuilt in 1992, and again in 2010.
Getting There
Four Corners Monument is in a remote area far from major airports. The closest big-city airports are in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Denver. Municipal airports in Blanding, Bluff, Monticello and Needles have facilities for small aircraft. Great Lakes Airlines provides service to Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas and Los Angeles through Four Corners Monument Regional Airport, 60 miles away in Farmington, New Mexico. It’s almost 400 miles from Salt Lake City to Monument Valley. Denver is 450 miles to the northeast and Phoenix is 364 miles south. Interstate 40 is about 120 miles south via 491 from Gallup and Interstate 70 is 200 miles north at Green River. Amtrak stops in both Gallup and Green River.
Lodging and Camping
The closest lodging to Four Corners Monument is in Oljato, just outside of Monument Valley. Mexican Hat, 15 miles away, and Bluff, 47 miles away, also have hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts. The View Hotel in Monument Valley, Utah, is Navajo-owned. There are more than two dozen campgrounds and RV parks in the Four Corners area. The closest are in Oljato and Medicine Hat, including one operated by the Navajo, and the US Forest Service operates four campgrounds. Devil’s Canyon and Nizhoni in Blanding and Buckboard in Monticello have tent and RV sites, toilets, drinking water and group sites. Dalton Springs, also in Monticello, does not have group sites.Monument Valley is a vast area of buttes and pinnacles formed when erosion removed sand and soil and left rocky spires. Navajo guides lead tours of the park by horseback, foot and Jeep Place for holidays. Anasazi Indian pictographs and cliff dwellings and three large rock bridges formed by streams are the highlights of Natural Bridges National Monument. The 19th-century Mormon town of Bluff was built between the San Juan River and sandstone cliffs. The town’s historic district includes homes, a cemetery and bluffs. Ancestral Pueblo people lived at Mesa Verde from A.D. 600 to 1300. The national park has more than 4,000 archaeological sites including 600 cliff dwellings.
Culture and Protocol
When you are traveling in the Navajo Nation, or Navajoland, remember that you are in a sovereign nation and observe the local laws and customs. Respect residents' privacy and sacred areas, and don’t approach tepees, which are strictly used for religious purposes. Stay on roads and trails: rock climbing, the use of ATVs and dune buggies and off-trail hiking is prohibited. Alcoholic beverages and firearms are forbidden on Navajo land and remember to ask permission before taking photographs or attending powwows. If you do attend a powwow, don’t applaud or ask insensitive questions. Navajo is the native language but most residents speak English.