People

A rocky overhang looms above a historic granary with chunks of building stone still in place.
This is a historic granary built by Indigenous people centuries ago for storing resources.

NPS / Dan Johnson

Since time immemorial, people have resided in and around the area where Dinosaur National Monument is now. Archeological evidence reveals a record of intermittent human occupation, cultural development, and exploration that spans at least 10,000 years. Today, people from all over the world are still drawn to this landscape for many of the same reasons as those who came before. Click on the pictures below to learn about the people who have been here before.
 
Rock etchings featuring a human figure next to a pattern of concentric circles.
Ancestral Indigenous People

Since time immemorial, people have called this place home. Their time here is remembered by the rocks, the landscape, and their descendants.

A painting of a Native man sitting on a horse with a man in a gray robe standing beside him.
Domínguez and Escalante Expedition

A stone marker near the monument's entrance sign marks the site of the first known European expedition into the Uintah Basin.

A photo of a weathered diary with drawings and notes scrawled across both pages.
Trappers and Traders

Some of the first European visitors to the area that is now called Dinosaur National Monument and the Uinta Basin were trappers and traders.

A black and white photograph of Lodore Canyon with a man sitting on a sandbar in the river.
John Wesley Powell

Many of the sites at Dinosaur National Monument now bear names bestowed upon them by John Wesley Powell during his river trips.

A black and white photo of a man with a grizzled beard in front of a horse.
Pat Lynch

No one really knows when Pat Lynch first arrived in the Dinosaur area, but he settled in a cave just a few miles above Pool Creek.

A black and white photo of two men standing in front of exposed dinosaur bones in a rock face.
Earl Douglass

The paleontologist, Earl Douglass, found the Carnegie Quarry fossil bed and oversaw excavations there for 15 years in the early 1900s.

A black and white photo of a man sitting on a wooden boat near a calm stretch of river.
Galloway-Stone Expedition

The Galloway-Stone expedition travelled the length of the Green River through Dinosaur National Monument to the Grand Canyon.

A black and white photograph of a woman on a horse above with cattle visible in the distance.
Josie Bassett Morris

Josie Bassett Morris built herself a cabin in 1913 along Cub Creek. There, she homesteaded by herself for 50 of her 90 years.

A black and white photo of a woman standing between two men.
Les Voyageurs sans Trace

The "Voyagers without a Trace" were a group of French adventurers who attempted to run the Green River through the Grand Canyon in 1938.

Last updated: April 30, 2024

Contact Info

Mailing Address:

4545 Hwy 40
Dinosaur, CO 81610

Phone:

435 781-7700

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