The Prairie Monster

By Ronald S. Martinez Sr. and Tim Acosta

History surrounds us, but we don’t always know where to find it. Would we even think to look in our own backyards?

In author Ronald S. Martinez Sr.’s book, The Prairie Monster, two children are playing, just like they do every day. But this time, they discover tracks that resemble the lizard creatures they play with. In their imaginations, they make connections, visualizing a creature stranger than reality. But with the help of a priest, who shares their enthusiasm, they learn the prairie monster actually existed! When their discovery of dinosaur tracks is made in the riverbeds of the dry prairies south of what is now La Junta, Colorado, the children and priest go on a wild expedition to expose the existence of the prairie monster to an unknowing world.

The Prairie Monster is an entertaining story with historical references. As the children and the priest undertake this journey of discovery, they also witness—and contribute to—Colorado history in the making.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532046018

Ronald S. Martinez Sr.

Ronald S. Martinez Sr. attended Colorado State University–Pueblo and graduated from Metropolitan State University–Denver. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. He is a former journalist for the Pueblo Chieftain & Star-Journal and a retired educator. He has written several articles about Hispanic achievements. He currently lives in Pueblo, Colorado.

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Copyright © 2018 Ronald S. Martinez Sr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All the other characters, names, and events, as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel, are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-4600-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-4601-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018913715

iUniverse rev. date: 01/14/2019

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Settling in the Beloved Land of the Monster

Chapter 2 Discovering Friends in the Dust,—the Monster, and Igasho

Chapter 3 How the Imagination of Two Children Unleashed a Monster

Chapter 4 The Priest, the Plan, and the Unexpected

Chapter 5 A Monster and a Mission: Science and the Indian Wars

Chapter 6 The Adventure Begins for Tomas, Igasho, and the Expedition

Chapter 7 A Dual Victory for Spain and the Monster

Chapter 8 Death Stalks the Sojourners

Chapter 9 A Wounded Warrior and a Priest Find Rest

Chapter 10 Death Finally Finds Its Mark in a Beloved Friend and Leader

Preface

B efore spaceships; before planes, trains, and automobiles; before skyscrapers and computers—there was imagination to make it all happen. And before men and their inventions, there were children to precede them and caretakers to prod and stimulate those young imaginations.

In The Prairie Monster, two children, in play, discover tracks that resemble lizard creatures that are their playthings in a vast territory ripe for discovery.

In their imaginative play, their minds make connections, but with the help of a priest—an adult who fosters their imagination and shares their enthusiasm—a huge discovery is made in the riverbeds of the dry prairies south of what is now La Junta, Colorado.

In this fictional account with historical references, the discovery of the dinosaur tracks leads the children and the priest on a wild expedition to expose them to an unknowing world. Along the way, they also witness Colorado history in the making while desiring to become contributors to science history.

What the children visualized as stranger than reality—the prairie monster—was in fact stranger than any tall tale the children could tell.

In the eastern plains of Colorado, located in rugged canyons, arroyos, and riverbeds, are tracks proving the existence of both meat-eating and plant-eating monsters—the allosaurus and the apatosaurus who shared the land at least 165 million years ago.

The allosaurus, a therapod, is considered to have been one of the most ferocious prehistoric creatures in the world. The apatosaurus, or commonly known as the brontosaurus, was one of the largest of the sauropods, or plant eaters.

Together, they live on in what is now called the Picketwire Canyon on the Comanche National Grasslands. The nearly two thousand dinosaur tracks or prints are considered the largest trackways in North America and have become a world tourist attraction just south of La Junta, Colorado. Native American, Spanish, Mexican, French, and later American peoples all made their mark in history in the same area. In actual recorded history, a young American girl is credited with bringing the tracks to the world’s attention, yet many others must have stumbled upon the strange tracks, including prehistoric peoples.

Two fictional characters, Tomas and Igasho, become imaginative friends of the prairie monster in the late 1700s as two of the first diverse peoples to have lived in the midst of the tracks.

Their travels from the tracks of the dinosaurs to Santa Fe encompass people and terrain with historical significance.

The first to inhabit the region were the Native Americans—the prehistoric Anasazi followed by the Apache, Comanche, and Utes. Then came the first Europeans to explore the area—the Spaniards together with those Spanish who became one with the Indians, resulting in the