The story of how Colorado National Monument came into being is as colorful as the canyons and cliffs themselves. The fantastic canyon country had a magical attraction for John Otto[5] (fig. 1) who, in 1906, camped near the northeastern mouth of Monument Canyon and began building trails into the canyons and onto the mesas—the high tablelands that separate the deep canyons. He did this back-breaking work simply because he wanted to and so that others could share the beauty of this wild country. In 1907 Otto got the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce to petition Secretary of the Interior James A. Garfield to set aside the area as a National Monument. Otto’s dream came true on May 24, 1911, when President William Howard Taft signed the proclamation creating the Monument. On June 14, Otto climbed to the top of Independence Monument (fig. 6) where he placed the Stars and Stripes to celebrate Flag Day. For several years thereafter Otto placed the flag atop Independence Monument on July 4th to celebrate Independence Day. Until about 1921 the only routes into the Monument proper were John Otto’s trails, but in that year the ranchers of Glade Park joined with Otto in building the steep, twisting Serpents Trail from No Thoroughfare Canyon to the mesa above—a much shorter route to Grand Junction. It had 54 switchbacks and climbed about 1,500 feet in 2½ miles. The Serpents Trail was included in the Monument in 1933 and was used until 1950 when an easier route was built up the west side of No Thoroughfare Canyon and through a tunnel to the top of the mesa (figs. 3, 56). The Serpents Trail has been preserved as an interesting foot trail (fig. 55), which can be hiked downhill in an hour or so. A parking area near the foot of the trail allows one member of a group to drive ahead to await the others. [Illustration: JOHN OTTO, fantastic father of Colorado National Monument, and his helpers. Photograph courtesy Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce. (Fig. 1)] In 1924 John Otto got the idea that the Monument should include a herd of big game, so he talked the Colorado Game and Fish Department into shipping six young elk, and he got the local Elks Lodge to pay the transportation costs. The elk were turned loose in Monument Canyon, but they found the sparse vegetation and scant water supply ill suited to their needs, so after a few years they found a way out over the rim and migrated about 20 miles south of the Monument to lush high country where they joined with native elk and multiplied to become the ancestors of the present fine herd on Piñon Mesa (shown in fig. 34_D_). Occasionally a few return to the Monument and may be seen mainly in Ute Canyon. Native mule deer are frequently seen in and near the Monument.