Roadside Mysteries

Well, there is an “Otto’s Monument” in Chillicothe, Illinois; This ain’t it:

John Otto

In and out of jails and insane asylums, crazy John Otto ranted for years to government officials to make a part of land located west of Grand Junction, Colorado into a national park. Then on May 24, 1911 President Taft officially made it a “National Monument”. OK, it’s not a national park but Otto became the first custodian of the monument; and it was now protected land, so John Otto was pleased.

The Colorado National Monument

Some people suggested it be called “Otto National Monument” but John Otto wouldn’t hear of it. He said “Why not call it ‘Smith National Monument’ instead?” presumably because a lot of people named Smith would likely come and visit THEIR monument!

Now the 100th anniversary is coming soon so you had better get your reservations in now for the big party; I hear they are going to try to make it a national park!

It’s all here, and it’s easy to view thanks to John Otto who constructed the trails.

While you are in Grand Junction during the month of May this year you should visit the nearby town of Fruita, Colorado. On May 20-21st of this year is the annual Mike the Headless Chicken Days in Fruita:

Mike:  Chicken: Headless

So, if you thought the Frozen Dead Guy Days was weird, well…

This entry was posted on Friday, April 15th, 2011 at 6:59 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.