Mystery of 5MR18 at the Narrows on the South Platte River

About the Book

Few mysteries are solved without questions remaining. This mystery too will leave the reader asking for more information about wagon life during the western migration, the draw of gold fields, and the lure of business and political ties, and much more. In all mysteries there is the intrigue and mental gymnastics of uncertainty, folklore, obscurity of fact. Our imagination leads us to travel the pathways provided by betrayal, greed, inference, and conjecture. These building footprints, forgotten and left to be covered by sand and time, provided the primary evidence of an untold piece of Colorado's story. The footprints have been sitting in the sand, unrecognized and unheralded, even their birth story was unknown. Are these relics of the past centuries old, or merely decades? There was no known current recognition, no known builder, purpose, history or name identity. Their history and the story they represent covers more than six states, and although just footprints, they may have been unique and of major significance for the period. They also could signify something to decorate the pages of infamy and betrayal. As the trail winds through many states, false leads, and familiar pioneer names, there emerges a sense of historical significance pointing to even more historical associations and questions. There is intrigue regarding those involved with what these building footprints represent, from life on the prairie, to those desiring fame and fortune by spinning their influence from Colorado to Washington DC. only to find that today, in many aspects, this story continues.

About the Author

J. Michael Geiger was born in Denver and has been following the South Platte River east, since his early childhood, hunting ducks with his father. He attended the University of Montana in Wildlife Management, but the draft loomed with the Vietnam War demands, and he entered the U.S. Air Force, where he served honorably, spending three of those years in Spain. During this time he did radio investigative work on Long Delayed Echo phenomena with Dr. Oscar Villard of Stanford University. Returning home, he resumed his studies at the University of Montana in Wildlife interests, but he returned home to go into the family real estate business. He eventually enrolled at the University of Colorado, Denver Campus where he met Dr. Jim Grady who had significant influence over his future, and fed his hunger to pursue Archaeology, while becoming a close personal friend, mentor and personal instructor in Archaeology. Because of Dr. Grady's influence, Michael graduated with a BA in Business Marketing, wrote his first Archaeology Report that became a text for the archaeology field school, and continued his beyond-school training under Dr. Grady for another three years. He is active in the restoration Wild Turkey in the South Platte River basin and has written a book, Wild Turkey in Colorado and the Central Plains. He continues to practice wildlife habitat development and conservation, while actively pursuing archaeology interests. He and his wife live both in the Denver Metro area as well as at the ranch in Morgan County, Colorado.