James C. Pilling in the Canyon of Lodore, Green River, just
within the entrance. Dinosaur National Monument. Moffat County, Colorado.
June 1871.
USGS Earth Science Photographic Archive digital files: hjk00505 and hjk0505a
Upon seeing the rapids at the entrance of an unnamed chasm of the Green
River, a crew member of the First Expedition (1869), Andy Hall, recited
part of a childhood poem that Major Powell knew well ("Cataract of
Lodore" by Robert Southey, 1774-1843). Powell named Canyon of Lodore,
after the poem. Canyon of Lodore is at the western end of Dinosaur National
Monument. In 1909, paleontologist, Earl Douglass, made a spectacular discovery
of dinosaur bone beds at the western end of Split Mountain. Initial excavations
were conducted by the Carnegie Museum. Publicity led to the establishment
of an 80-acre national monument in 1915. The monument was expanded in 1938
to preserve over 200,000 acres in Utah and Colorado. The modern park encompasses
four major river canyons: Canyon of Lodore, Whirlpool Canyon, Split Mountain
Canyon, and the Yampa River Canyon. The northern mouth of the canyon is
called the Gate of Lodore where the Green River leaves the softer sedimentary
and volcanic bedrock of Tertiary age and enters a canyon carved in more
resistant and more ancient bedrock. |