The Four Corners is a region in the Southwestern United States where the southwestern corner of Colorado, the southeastern corner of Utah, the northeastern corner of Arizona, and the northwestern corner of New Mexico meet. Most of this area is home to Native American nations that have their own governments. The largest of these groups is the Navajo Nation, followed by the Hopi, Ute, and Zuni tribes. The Four Corners is part of a larger area called the Colorado Plateau, which is mostly rural, rough, and dry. New Mexico is the largest state in the region and the fifth-largest state in the United States.
The name "Four Corners" comes from the point where the borders of the four states meet, near 37° north latitude and 109° 03′ west longitude. This location is marked by the Four Corners Monument, the only place in the United States where four states share a single point. Other popular places in the region include Monument Valley, Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The most populous city in the Four Corners is Farmington, New Mexico, followed by Durango, Colorado.
Prehistory and Indigenous history
Paulette F. C. Steeves, in The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere, suggests that Indigenous people arrived in North America much earlier than most people believe. She supports this idea with evidence from archaeological digs and stories passed down through Indigenous oral histories. Her research questions old beliefs about when and how humans first moved into the Americas.
Before Europeans arrived, the region had advanced communities like the Ancestral Puebloans, who built cliff dwellings, used kivas for ceremonies, and had large trading systems. Charles C. Mann, in 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, describes the advanced farming, government, and religious practices that existed across the Americas before colonization. Craig Childs, in House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest, follows ancient paths and settlements in the Southwest to show how the environment and cultural traditions influenced the lives of people in the Four Corners area. His work shows that the land itself holds clues about how Indigenous people lived, performed ceremonies, and survived in a dry and difficult landscape.
History
The United States gained the Four Corners region from Mexico after the Mexican–American War ended in 1848. In 1863, Congress formed the Arizona Territory from the western part of the New Mexico Territory. The boundary was legally set as a line running straight south from the southwest corner of the Colorado Territory, which had been created in 1861. This was an uncommon action by Congress, which usually defined new territory boundaries using lines of latitude or longitude, or by following rivers, rather than extending existing boundaries.
By linking one boundary to the corner of another, Congress made sure that four states would eventually meet at a single point, even if surveying mistakes occurred. The area was first surveyed by the U.S. government in 1868 as part of efforts to turn the Colorado Territory into a state, the first of the Four Corners states to become one. Although Congress in 1863 planned for Colorado’s corners to be at specific latitude and longitude lines, a common survey mistake at the time caused the original "Four Corners" point and its marker to be placed 1,821 feet (555 meters) east of the intended location.
In 1925, about 57 years after Congress first tried to define the spot, the issue with the misplaced marker was discussed before the U.S. Supreme Court. To fix the surveying error, the Supreme Court changed the location of the Four Corners point, officially moving it roughly 1,800 feet (550 meters) east to where the original survey had placed it. This location remains the official site today, properly marked. This early mistake has led to some long-lasting confusion about the correct location of the Four Corners marker, some of which still exist.
The first Navajo tribal government was set up in 1923 to manage growing oil exploration activities on Navajo land in the Four Corners area.
Geography
The Four Corners Monument is located at 36.998972°N 109.045167°W.
The Four Corners area is part of the high Colorado Plateau. This makes it an important place for weather systems. These systems form over the plateau and then move eastward through Colorado and into the central United States. This weather pattern causes snow and rain across the central United States.
Federally protected areas in the Four Corners region include Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. Mountain ranges in the area include the Sleeping Ute Mountains, Abajo Mountains, and the Chuska Mountains.
Politics
Six different governments have areas of responsibility that meet at the Four Corners Monument: the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as the tribal governments of the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The Four Corners Monument itself is managed by the Navajo Nation Department of Parks and Recreation. Other tribal nations in the Four Corners region include the Hopi and other Ute groups. The capital of the Navajo tribal government is located in Window Rock, Arizona. The Ute Mountain Ute tribal headquarters are in Towaoc, Colorado. The U.S. federal government is also active in the area, especially the Department of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Department of Agriculture, which includes the Forest Service.
Cities
The Four Corners region is mostly rural. Farmington, New Mexico, is the main economic center, the largest city, and the only large city area in the region. The town closest to the center of the Four Corners region is Teec Nos Pos, Arizona. Other cities in the region include Cortez and Durango in Colorado; Monticello and Blanding in Utah; Kayenta and Chinle in Arizona; and Shiprock, Aztec, and Bloomfield in New Mexico.
Counties
- San Juan County: New Mexico
- Montezuma County: Colorado
- San Juan County: Utah
- Apache County: Arizona
Transportation
Air service is available at the Durango-La Plata County Airport in Durango, Colorado; the Four Corners Regional Airport in Farmington, New Mexico; and the Cortez Municipal Airport in Cortez, Colorado. Interstate 40 runs along the southern edge of the Four Corners region. The main U.S. Highways that directly serve the Four Corners include U.S. Route 64, U.S. Route 160 (which connects to the Four Corners Monument), U.S. Route 163, U.S. Route 191, U.S. Route 491 (previously known as U.S. Route 666), and U.S. Route 550.
The main line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, now operated by BNSF Railway, runs along the southern edge of the Four Corners. The area includes parts of old railroads that are now preserved as heritage railways. These include the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. The Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad, which connects a power plant to a coal mine near Kayenta, passes near the Four Corners region.
Helium
The Four Corners region was among the first places in the United States where helium was taken out, and the area is becoming more important as a source of helium. This region is known for having a lot of high-quality "green" helium. The most important helium field in this area is the Holbrook Basin in Arizona.
Gallery
- A false-color satellite image shows the Four Corners area. Bright red lines represent plants growing near major rivers. The largest river running from southeast to northwest is the San Juan River. A key place where rivers meet near the center is where the San Juan River joins the Mancos River in New Mexico. A smaller meeting point northwest of this is where the Toh Dahstini Wash flows from Arizona, joining the San Juan River in Colorado near the border between Utah and Colorado, just north of Four Corners.
- A young Navajo boy riding a horse in Monument Valley. The Navajo Nation covers a large part of the Four Corners region, including Monument Valley, which is often seen in Western films.
- Flags around the Four Corners Monument. In order from the front, going clockwise, the flags are: Arizona's state flag, the Navajo Nation flag, Utah's flag before 2011, the Navajo Nation flag again, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Reservation flag in Colorado, New Mexico's flag, the Navajo Nation flag a third time, and the United States flag.
- The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, now a heritage railway, used to connect the Four Corners area to the main rail system.
- A view from above of Bluff, Utah, and Comb Ridge.