Hidden Treasure
Published by DanM September 4th, 2007 in Southern Utah People, Southern Utah Places.The Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm
Everybody knows about Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. A few even know about Cedar Breaks or Kodachrome Basin. But an absolute jewel is just a few blocks off the freeway in St. George and not that many people know about it. If you’re anywhere close to St. George with a few hours to spare, you really should see it.
The problem, but also one of the real advantages, is that it’s relatively new. The site was only discovered by Dr. Sheldon Johnson, a retired optometrist, in 2000. It takes time for word of something like this to get around.
To their eternal credit, Dr. Johnson and the city of St. George immediately turned a chance discovery into a protected treasure. Dr. Johnson donated his land to the city and they got Congress to appropriate funds for a really nice science and visitor center which has now only been open for a few years.
In a state rich in dinosaur sites, this one measures up to the best of them, but with a twist. Other sites typically display dinosaur fossils like bones and petrified wood. This one has dinosaur tracks. And what wonderful tracks! More than 1,000 tracks have been found in the 10-acre site, easily one of the best discoveries of tracks in the world. In addition to the tracks you can see skin prints and impressions made by tail drags and swimming movements. Walkways let you wander among the tracks just as they were found in the sandstone. The whole impression is a little like actually being plopped down in Jurassic Park.
If you read about dinosaur tracks in a book, you’ll probably see reference to places like Glen Rose, Texas or Clayton Lake, New Mexico. Been there! Doesn’t even begin to match the quantity or quality of Johnson Farm. And that’s just the tracks. The visitor facilities are wa-a-a-a-y ahead at Johnson Farm too.
Planning For A Visit
One of the best things about Johnson Farm is the convenience. The site is literally just a few minutes off the freeway. In fact, you can have lunch at the shopping malls near the freeway exit and talk about what a great place it is after your visit. The site is run by the city of St. George and charges the reasonable fee of $3 for adults and $2 for kids. (Las Vegas charges five bucks just to ride their monorail one way! And it’s really just a bus on a track!)
Thanks for a wonderful article, Dan. Very well done! I have shared it with tons of people.
The only thing I would like to comment on is that my husband did not do this alone. He did the turning over of the rock, and his heart is as generous as all out doors, but without my daily long hours at the computer, on the telephone, and working with people, not only would we not have saved this site, we would NEVER have acquired the funding to build our first wing of what will eventually become an amazing museum complex.
I was at his side every day from 8:00 in the morning to 9:00 at night, seven days a week in those first months, welcoming people to share the discovery on our farm. I am the one who put out a book for people to sign so we could keep track of those thousands who continued to pour in to see dinosaur evidence right here in St. George. I created the foundation DinosaurAH!torium as a channel for fund raising, and with the help of my husband, and the board of directors who stepped up, we succeeded in raising over 1.3 million dollars.
When we were in congress speaking at the committee hearing, we were told by congressional staff: “You cannot accomplish a bill like this in three months! This process takes at least three years! How have you done it?” I can tell you it took a lot of hard work and a guiding hand of inspiration, for we surely had no background for understanding how to do this.
My mantra was that time was our worst enemy. It was necessary for people to step up immediately or this amazing scientific resource would be lost forever. A doctor from France told me in those early days when we were trying to get SOMEONE to listen, “This treasure doesn’t just belong to you, you know. This belongs to the world.”
I think she was absolutely right. But it took a while for “the world” to really hear our call for help. I don’t need any praise, but I do not think it is fair to be totally forgotten and lost as part of the story. Without my dedicated efforts, there would not be a story, or a museum at the St. George Discovery Site at Johnson Farm.
As Fanny Brice used to say, “And that’s the truth! Braaack!”
Wow! When I wrote this blog, I didn’t expect to attract the personal comments of one of the persons most responsible for making this treasure available to Utah and the people of the world. Thank you! Thankyouthankyou! THANK YOU!
My dad was on the founding Board of Directors of the CEU Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah. What he got for his efforts is his name on the plaque outside. But it was all worth it anyway!