Yeah, in the staggeringly distant past in what is now the south central region of the state of Utah.

Planet Earth buckle subterranean turbulence forced up massive layers of rock warping the earth's crust with hundreds of miles of wrinkled ridge.

That was 65 million years ago.

Today, this geologic blemish is both a landmark and the namesake of Capitol Reef National Park.

This 100 mile long but very narrow park can be found stretching north and south of Utah's Highway 24 at the Fremont River Canyon.

Once inside, this rugged geological ridge springs forth toward the heavens.

There are places in the ridge where erosion has shaped domed peaks.

When early pioneers first sighted them, they were struck by the resemblance to the Capitol in Washington, D.

C.

And there were nearly impassable areas where these immense riches rise to 1000 feet in height.

Pioneers on the lookout for landmarks saw them as reefs, and so the area came to be known as Capitol Reef.

Settlers tagged it with even more names in numerous spots running the length of the so called Reef.

There are Hollows, indentations, pool like recesses that capture water during a rainstorm.

Precious precious water and another label, water pocket fold.

The panorama, vast stones and fantasy forms.

And Hughes turned the dust veiled eyes of those who first saw them to remembered images.

This'll they called Chimney rock.

And this castle in Cathedral Valley night falls over the Temple of the moon, and a new day dawns at the Temple of the Sun.

1000 years ago, prehistoric nomads settled here.

They live their epic tale on canyon walls.

The pie utes Native Americans who lived here later called this region wishfully the land of the sleeping rainbow.

They were among the first to farm this hard baked Earth ever resourceful.

For them, the wild Yaka was a source of food, drink and fiber.

Here, the seeds of wildflowers may lie dormant for as many as 10 years, waiting for sufficient moisture before blooming and carpeting the land with color.

In the 18 eighties, Mormon settled here and tried their hand at farming in the Fremont River Valley.

Their church was a viral vanguard of frontier Christianity.

If anyone could make this stubborn soil yield, it was a Mormon they called their corner of the valley.

Fruita and in flexing their collective muscle, these Mormons turned Fruita into flourishing orchards.

For 80 years.

They peddle their hard won produce two cowboys and prospectors and even runaway outlaws like Butch Cassidy.

In 1937 they began leaving by the outbreak of World War Two pupils closed their books for the last time at their little schoolhouse, and a valiant phase of a frontier epic came to an end.

Today, Fruita is an oasis for wildlife.

For the visitor.

Hiking and horseback riding are among the fun things to do.

Here you can pick your own fruit, visit the remnants of the old Mormon homesteads with a taste of history.

Because of Mormon settlers, toil and tenacity, this garden in the desert still blooms.