108 Garfield Avenue, Madison, New Jersey 07940
Monticello is a town in southeastern Utah at the foot of the
Blue Mountains. It was first inhabited by roving bands of Indians.
It wasn’t until 1880 that Texas cattlemen discovered the tall
native grasses which provided valuable food that would fatten their
cows before they were sent to market. In 1887 a group of Mormons
Monticello became an established community.
The Emerson Brantingharn Big Four Tractor, Model 1912, shown
here was originally purchased in 1913 by the San Juan Arid Farms,
Inc., at a cost of $4,000. It was used for sage brush clearing,
plowing, threshing and many other jobs on a dry farm located 12
miles east of Monticello in the rolling fields between Montezuma
Creek and Coal Bed Canyon.
It was shipped by the manufacturer over the Denver, Rio Grande
& Western Railroad to Alamosa, Colorado, where it was
transfered to the narrow gauge (36′) cars of the Rio
Grande’s San Juan Extension for the trip through the mountains
to Cortez. The last 60 miles to Monticello it was under its own
power over dirt roads.
There are only three ‘Big Four’ tractors remaining in
the United States and this one is the only one west of the
Mississippi River. In 1962 the Monticello Chamber of Commerce, with
the assistance of other civic clubs, including the local Lions
Club, purchased and restored this tractor to its present operating
condition and have placed it on permanent display in the community
park.
