years of history behind the Ute Trail marker in LaVern M. Johnson Park

By Priscilla Cohan Redstone Review

LYONS – The Ute People, made up of several tribal bands, have been in the area we now call Colorado for at least 12,000 years. They did not migrate to this area. They were nomadic, moving from mountain to plain in search of the natural resources that were ever shifting in abundance with the seasons.

They lived around and moved through these mountains for most of those 12,000 years until the European colonizers came into the area about 200 years ago. There is some evidence to show that the Spanish explorers introduced the Ute Tribes to horses prior to the 1850s. Ute People traveled in and around the St. Vrain River Valley for thousands of years, by foot and by horse. They were the original people of this territory.

In June of 2023 I was tasked with sorting out a grant that was awarded to Lyons in 2021. As of June 2023, we were a little behind in the reporting and the keepers of the knowledge had moved on to new and exciting projects. Or maybe, as a new employee, I didn’t know who to ask or where to find the details.

As I scrambled to sort out the particulars of the grant, I also dove into the history of Colorado’s original inhabitants. I was trying to both be sensitive to the tribal cultural historians who work with the Ute Tribes in Colorado and to tamp down my fussy and fast-moving timeline for the grant. Having a deeper understanding of local history is new for me and I have made many mistakes. What I have learned though, is invaluable to recognize the travesty of displacement and harm that one culture can have on another.

The grant from History Colorado was to replace the “Ute Trail Marker” that was washed away in the flood of 2013. The project was initiated by the Lyons Arts and Humanities Commission (LAHC) and town staff. Our task was to in- corporate local stone with a history of the Ute presence in this area before the European colonizers came. Late 2021, the LAHC sought out and found a sculpture by sculptor Oreland Joe, Sr., Núuchiu (Ute) and Diné (Navajo), who lives and works in Shiprock, NM. After an exciting fundraising effort, we were able to purchase this beautiful piece to be part of the commemoration of the “Ute Trail.”

When I picked up the pages of the grant and tried to make sense of what needs to happen in a few short months it appeared that the project had split in two. The newly acquired hand-carved alabaster sculpture on the plinth was no longer what the grant covered. It was now a sculpture on a pedestal. The grant was for an interpretive sign. It took a while for this to become clear to me and now it is. What we are now creating for LaVern M. Johnson Park is a plinth with a sculpture on top, now in place, and an educational sign that talks about the history of the Ute’s nomadic movements through the St. Vrain River Valley.

The sculpture, The Trail of Treaties by Oreland Joe, Sr., is carved from Tennessee marble and is of a native Ute in traditional dress. It sits atop a handsome stone plinth built by the owner of Blue Mountain Stone, Raul Vasquez, Buddha Vasquez and Renato Olvera Garcia. It is under a mature silver maple tree next to the ice-skating rink in LaVern M. Johnson Park. The sandstone cliffs create a stunning backdrop. The plinth on the docket for two long years was built and created in a few short weeks, thanks to the efforts of Claudia Paterno, LAHC Chair, Dave Cosgrove and of course Raul Vasquez and his skilled team of craftsmen.

The work on this monument was entirely donated by Raul Vasquez and Blue Mountain Stone. It is a lovely trib-