X only sort of marks the spot, but Four Corners Monument officials believe a slight miscalculation in where the corners of four states meet won’t deter tourists who photograph each other sprawled across four states.
Park manager DeWayne Johnson said tourism to the monument has dropped steadily in the past decade, but recent media coverage exposing a surveying error has increased it.
“Overnight, we got more visitors after the media got this,” Johnson said. “I think we might be getting a big rush this summer. Already we have more visitors per day than we did this time last year.”
Park visitors peaked at about 260,000 people in 2004, Johnson said. Last year, it saw about 200,000 tourists.
The marker for the only location in the U.S. where four states come together was placed almost dead on in 1875, said Dave Doyle, chief geodetic surveyor for the National Geodetic Survey, which defines and manages a national coordinate system. However, it’s a bit east of where it should be: 1,807.14 feet, or about the length of six football fields, he said.
Doyle said it doesn’t matter because the marker’s location for the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah is now accepted.
“Even if it’s 10 miles off, once it’s adopted by the states, which it has been, the numerical errors are irrelevant. It becomes the legal definition” of the Four Corners, he said.
Johnson said the marker’s placement has been questioned before, but he was startled this time because the news went around the globe and showed up on major Web sites.
“The majority of people who thought this was a big deal are non-natives,” he said. “It appeared that the media broke this story, but we’ve known it.”
The attention now focuses on the uniqueness of the monument, operated by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department, Johnson said.
“Visitors don’t seem to care that we’re not where we’re supposed to be,” he said.
Tourists to the monument last week agreed.
“It really doesn’t change my opinion at all,” said Caroline Rogers of Lee, N.H.
Federica Notari of Italy, who did a handstand on the four states, said the error didn’t bother her.
“My opinion doesn’t change,” she said. “It’s the monument I wanted to see.”
Johnson believes the monument appeals more to visitors’ ideas of entering native land than of standing on the accurate intersection of four states.
“What they really come here for is to stand on the Navajo Nation and hold fry bread,” Johnson said.
Truly, there was no mistake when the monument was set, there was no error. The error in the monument is 0.00 feet. The original surveyor preformed an amazing feat of navigation. Really, the only error here was with mistaken assumptions and poor reporting. The people who set up the PLSS surveys knew quite well that the monument wouldn’t be set exactly at 32.0000000 degrees west of the Washington Meridian. It wasn’t possible, but to be within a few seconds of arc is remarkable. When the law said 32 degrees west of the Washington Meridian, it did not say 32 degrees 00 minutes 00.0000 seconds. And that was intentional. The monument became the point when it was set. No mistakes, no errors, except in reporting. Please stop calling it a mistake, that really disrespects a remarkable navigator and surveyor.
I love stories about my home! Growing up in the four corners area I visited the monument many times, though as I grew older and eventually took my wife to visit the monument I went more and more for the fry bread (which is the best treat in the world, just a little honey and you’ll think you’re in heaven). Hopefully this and other good news about the area will bring a boost to it’s economy. I mean Albuquerque was listed in this year’s top ten cities to live and work in, along with Flagstaff.