The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the states of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to the area being named the Four Corners region. The monument also marks the boundary between two semi-autonomous Native American governments, the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

, which maintains the monument as a tourist attraction, and the

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe ( Ute dialect: Wʉgama Núuchi) is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Ute Nation, and are mostly descendants of the historic Weeminuche Band who moved to the Southern Ute reservation in 1897. Their reserv ...

Reservation. The origins of the state boundaries marked by the monument occurred just prior to, and during, the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, when the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

acted to form governments in the area to combat the spread of slavery to the region. When the early territories were formed, their boundaries were designated along meridian and parallel lines. Beginning in the 1860s, these lines were surveyed and marked. These early surveys included some errors, but even so, the markers placed became the legal boundaries, superseding the written descriptions of geographical meridians and parallels. This includes the Four Corners Monument, which has been legally established as the corner of the four states.

Monument

The monument is maintained as a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...

by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department, Four Corners Monument Navajo Tribal Park. It is an example of a

political boundary Borders are usually defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative division ...

that is a tourist destination in its own right. The monument consists of a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

disk embedded with a smaller bronze disk around the point, surrounded by smaller, appropriately located state seals and flags representing both the states and tribal nations of the area. Circling the point, starting from Colorado, the disk reads with two words in each state "Here meet in freedom under God four states". Around the monument, local Navajo and Ute artisans sell souvenirs and food. An admission fee is required to view and photograph the monument. The monument is a popular tourist attraction despite its remote and isolated location. As early as 1908, people traveled long distances to take pictures of family and friends at the monument in

Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (1989 ...

-like poses, sitting on the disk, in a circle of friends or family around the disk, or for couples to kiss directly over the disk.

Location

The monument is located on the Colorado Plateau west of

U.S. Highway 160 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a 1,465 mile (2,358 km) long east–west United States highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 five miles (8 km) west of Tuba City, Arizo ...

, approximately southwest of

Cortez, Colorado Cortez () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 8,766 at the 2020 United States Census. History In 1886, the town was built ...

. In addition to the four states, two semi-

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

American Indian tribal governments have boundaries at the monument, the

and the

Reservation, with the Ute Mountain tribal boundaries coinciding with Colorado's boundaries at the monument.

Climate

Located in the Colorado Plateau region of the Southwestern United States, the Four Corners Monument has a strong

cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(BSk) according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system. Winters are cold but sunny, while summers are hot and dry. The record high temperature of has been observed five times, on June 19, 29 and 30, 1974, July 14, 2003, and July 21, 2005. The record low temperature of was observed on January 3, 1974.

History

The area now called Four Corners was initially American Indian land and beginning in the 16th century it was claimed by Spain as part of New Spain. After Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, the area was governed by Mexico until being

ceded The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...

to the United States by the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

in 1848 following the United States' victory in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. The first boundary which would become part of the monument was set as part of the

Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–Am ...

, which created the New Mexico Territory and

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

. The border between the two territories was congressionally defined as the

37th parallel north The 37th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 37 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the ...

by the 31st United States Congress. In 1861, the 36th United States Congress transferred land previously allocated to the Utah Territory to the newly created

Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the ...

. The Colorado Territory's southern border would remain as the 37th parallel north, but a new border—between the Colorado and Utah Territories—was declared to be the

32nd meridian west from Washington The 32nd meridian of longitude west from Washington is a line of longitude approximately 109°02′48″ west of the Prime Meridian of Greenwich. In the United States of America, the meridian 32 degrees west of the Washington Meridian defines ...

. This line was derived from the reference used at the time, the

Washington meridian The Washington meridians are four meridians that were used as prime meridians in the United States and pass through Washington, D.C. The four which have been specified are: # through the Capitol # through the White House # through the old Naval Ob ...

. In 1860, just prior to the outbreak of the

, a group of people in the southern portion of New Mexico Territory passed a resolution condemning the United States for creating such a vast territory with only a single, small government in place at Santa Fe. They claimed that by doing so, the U.S. had ignored the needs of the southern portion, left it without a functional system of law and order, and allowed the situation to deteriorate into a state of chaos and near-anarchy. The group declared secession from the United States and announced their intent to join the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

under the name of the Arizona Territory. The U.S. Congress responded in 1863 by creating another Arizona Territory with different but partially overlapping boundaries. The Confederate boundaries split New Mexico along an east–west line, the

34th parallel north The 34th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 34 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean. The parallel formed the southern ...

, allowing for a single state connection from Texas to the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

. This would give the Confederacy access to California and the Pacific coast. The Union definition split New Mexico along a north–south line, the 32nd meridian west from Washington, which simply extended the boundary between Colorado and Utah southward. The Union plan eventually became reality, and this created the quadripoint at the modern Four Corners. After the split, New Mexico resembled its modern form, with only slight differences.

Surveying the boundaries

After the Civil War, efforts began to survey and mark the actual borders. In 1868, the

General Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

(GLO) had Ehud N. Darling survey and set markers along the border between the Colorado and New Mexico Territories (the 37th parallel north); this border over time has become known as the "Darling Line". In 1875, another GLO surveyor, Chandler Robbins, surveyed and marked the border between the Arizona and New Mexico Territories (the 32nd meridian west of Washington). Robbins began near the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...

, and worked his way north marking the border every so often. Near the 37th parallel north he intersected the Darling Line, and here he erected a sandstone shaft. This sandstone shaft marked today's location of the Four Corners Monument. In 1878, Rollin J. Reeves surveyed and marked the border between the newly created State of Colorado and the Utah Territory. Reeves located the sandstone shaft marker placed by Robbins at today's Four Corners Monument. He then began to survey and mark the border between Colorado and Utah from this point northward. In 1901, Howard B. Carpenter surveyed and marked the border between Arizona and Utah, completing the survey of borders making up the Four Corners Monument. The results of these surveys and the markers placed were later accepted as the legal boundaries between the various states.

The marker's transformation into a monument

By 1899, the sandstone shaft marker placed by Chandler Robbins in 1875 had been disturbed and broken, so it was replaced with a new stone by two U.S. surveyors, Hubert D. Page and James M. Lentz. In 1912, a simple concrete pad was poured around the marker. The first modern Navajo government convened in 1923 in an effort to organize and regulate an increasing amount of oil exploration activities on Navajo lands, and they played a significant role in the monument's further development. In 1931, Everett H. Kimmell, another U.S. surveyor, found this newer stone had broken too and he replaced it with a brass disc marker set in concrete. In 1962, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs poured an elevated concrete pad around the 1931 brass marker; this pad included the state border lines and names in tile. The monument was completely rebuilt in 1992, and the 1931 brass marker was replaced with a disc-shaped aluminum-bronze plate set in granite. The monument was again rebuilt in 2010, although the disc-shaped plate from 1992 remained in place.

Misplacement controversy

Since the early 20th century, controversies have arisen regarding the accuracy of the monument's placement. After the initial surveys, it was found that the borders did not always follow the lines of meridian and parallel (as had been intended) due to the primitive surveying technology available at the time. This discrepancy left the four states asking if the correct borders were the exact lines of meridian and parallel (and if new, more accurate, surveys needed to be done), or if the markers placed during the initial surveys were now the actual border. New Mexico sued Colorado in 1919, and when the Supreme Court in 1925 ruled that the markers placed during the initial surveys were the actual borders, even if the markers were off in some locations (this includes the Four Corners Monument), the issue was resolved. Today's legal description of these border lines is based on the original markers, and not the written description of the borders created when the territories were formed. Because of this, the borders between these states are not perfectly straight and often zigzag. One example is the border between Colorado and Utah, where in one area the border jogs west about from where it was intended to be placed by the written description (i.e. the 32nd meridian west of Washington). ). Because of the Supreme Court decision, the border set out by the markers remains the border between the two states. This issue resurfaced briefly in 2009 with U.S. media reports that the monument was placed west of its intended location. This was soon found to be the result of a mistaken assumption: that the

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great ...

, used in the United States since 1912, was used. In actuality, the 19th century surveys used the previous

. A spokesperson for the

U.S. National Geodetic Survey The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications ...

(USNGS) has determined that the modern monument is located roughly east of where the Four Corners marker had originally been intended to be located by the US Congress in 1863. The spokesperson, however, reiterated that the 1875 survey was accepted by all states and therefore its markers, including the Four Corners Monument, are legally binding. Similar statements were issued by the Navajo Nation, defending their work in maintaining and promoting the monument.

COVID-19 closures

From 2020 to 2021, the Four Corners Monument was closed to the public as part of Navajo Nation coronavirus safety regulations. The monument was reopened in 2021, with a requirement for visitors to wear

masks A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practi ...

Gallery

Image:Four Corners Monument (1).jpg, left, Flags surrounding the Four Corners Monument. In clockwise order starting from the frontmost flag, the

state flag In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state, or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division). Government flag A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occasi ...

, flag of the

(twice),

Reservation,

, Navajo Nation (third instance), and the flag of the United States. Image:FourcornersMonument.jpg, The Four Corners Monument as it looked following the 1992 reconstruction., alt=A concrete pad with the state seals of the four states. In the center of the pad is a red disk reading "Here meet in freedom under God four states". Inside that disk is a smaller bronze disk.

References

External links

Official site
– Navajo Parks and Recreation
NGS Survey Information

Geocaching Recovery Logs
{{Good article Borders of Arizona Borders of Colorado Borders of New Mexico Borders of Utah Monuments and memorials in Arizona Monuments and memorials in Colorado Monuments and memorials in New Mexico Monuments and memorials in Utah Navajo Nation Tourist attractions in Apache County, Arizona Tourist attractions in Montezuma County, Colorado Tourist attractions in San Juan County, Utah Tourist attractions in San Juan County, New Mexico Boundary markers Quadripoints and higher Ute tribe