Monument Valley Navajo Nation Tribal Park

By Richard Kerry Holtzin

MONUMENT VALLEY: Navajo Nation Tribal Land is a literary portrayal of one of the most celebrated scenic backdrops in the American Southwest, and possibly the world. If the name doesn't convey an image of the Valley's sculpted sandstone monuments, perhaps seeing some of John Wayne's Western classics might provide a mental view and reminder.

Abstract: Located 22 miles north of Kayenta, Arizona, Monument Valley spreads its peerless beauty and shares its vast boundary with Utah just to the north. Perhaps next to the Grand Canyon, the Valley's mesmerizing background are the most awe-inspiring remnants in North America. This is indeed Navajo country whose people (the Din?) are proud of their homeland, especially this representative valley of erosional landmarks. With hoards of tourists visiting from all over the world, seeing this so-called "dished valley" environs from the veranda is the initial sweeping vista of why and how this sector of the Great Basin Desert earned its moniker while driving the 17-mile loop road into the interior is the best way to experience these erosional relics and what each prized monument has to offer. For instance, a closer view of the Mitten Buttes and Merrick Butte, the Totem Poles, John Ford's Point, and numerous other scenic highlights along the way. In this publication, twelve so-named "Sandstone Sketches" (chapter) reveal various facets of what Monument Valley represents beyond its stunning view. For instance, the geologic aspects, the native people who live here, the vastness of the Colorado Plateau Province, which, in this desert sector, includes Monument Valley, and a plethora of other regional national parks and monuments (i.e., Mystery Valley, Arches, Canyonlands, Bears Ears, and the Goosenecks of the San Juan). Monument Valley, the text, vividly describes to the reader the eloquence of its meticulously sculpted landscape and grandeur.

Incidentally, all of the Sandstone Sketches in this book reveal the author's passion for the Four Corners region, as well as how he relates to the Valley's singular portrait of nature's meticulous and timely downsizing of plateaus, mesas, buttes, and hoodoos (i.e., tall, thin spire of rock). Thus, the process of erosional fabrication over millions of years.

(247-pages 8 x 11 format)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1987559894
• ISBN13: 9781987559897
• Release Date: April 2018
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.5" x 11.0"