Denis Julien Inscription (Moffat County, Colorado)

The Denis Julien Inscription was left on a rock face in 1838 along the Green River

Green River (Utah)

The Green River, located in the western United States, is the chief tributary of the Colorado River. The watershed of the river, known as the Green River Basin, covers parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The Green River is long, beginning in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming and flowing...

in Moffat County, Colorado

Moffat County, Colorado

Moffat County is the northwesternmost and the second most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 13,184 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Craig.- History :...

by Denis Julien

Denis Julien (trapper)

Denis Julien was an American fur trapper of French Huguenot origin who was active in the southwestern United States in the 1830s and 1840s, one of the few Europeans in the area at the time...

, a French-American trapper who was one of the few Europeans in the area in the 1830s. Julien made a practice of leaving his mark on locations along the Green and Colorado

Colorado River

The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...

rivers, leaving at least eight such marks. Four, including the Colorado mark, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

The inscription reads:

DJ 1838

It is about 5 feet (1.5 m) above normal water level, but below flood level. The inscription is located in Whirlpool Canyon in what is now Dinosaur National Monument

Dinosaur National Monument

Dinosaur National Monument is a National Monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers. Although most of the monument area is in Moffat County, Colorado, the Dinosaur Quarry is located in Utah...

. The inscription was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 1986.

See also