Monument Valley is a symbol of the American Wild West.
- Monument Valley is an area that contains a group of tall cliff like individual formations, known as ‘buttes’ and ‘towers’, made of sandstone, found in the Colorado Plateau, in the south western area of the United States of America, on the border of Arizona and Utah.
- Monument Valley includes the valley’s Navajo Tribal Park that covers an area of approximately 37,110 hectares (91,700 acres), and is part of the Navajo Nation territory.
- Monument Valley has been home to the native American Navajo people for hundreds of years, and rock engravings, as well as other cultural points of interest, can be seen with a tourist guide.
- Monument Valley’s buttes reach heights of up to 300 metres (1000 feet) and are coloured red or blue-grey due to the different oxides they contain.
- The Najavo name for Monument Valley is ‘Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii’ and means ‘valley of the rocks’.
Part of Monument Valley
Image courtesy of Wolfgang Staudt/Flickr
- Parts of Monument Valley were mined from 1948 to 1967, mainly for large quantities of uranium, and it has caused significant controversy due to the radiation and contamination hazard it has left in some areas.
- Monument Valley temperatures range from -18°C to 38°C (0°F to 100°F) with desert like conditions, and sometimes it snows.
- Monument Valley is popularly used in media due to its prominent symbol of the Wild West, and numerous films have featured the valley and monuments, as well as artwork, music media, television, video games, advertising and print media.
- Monument Valley’s buttes were most likely formed by large rock erosions and volcanic activity.
- Monument Valley is a popular tourist destination and is easily accessible via car, accessed by the US Highway 163, and guided tours are available for a fee.
Bibliography:
Phillips C & C, History/Geology/Culture, Monument Valley, http://www.monumentvalley.com/Pages/english_infopage.html
Monument Valley, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley
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