They piled into two cars and drove more than 50 miles south. "We waited probably until 10 or 11," he said. He told me that the night before the border game that year, he and a few other people in his dorm decided to paint the rock. In the fall of 2006, he was a freshman at the University of Wyoming. But I tried.Īfter dozens of calls to businesses and churches in the area and a last-ditch Twitter callout, Nick Korsick sent me a direct message. It isn't easy to find people who will admit to trespassing on land to paint a rock. New paintings usually pop up ahead of the two schools' annual "border war" football game. Students from Colorado State University and the University of Wyoming have painted the boulder for generations. Matt Bloom/KUNC Graffiti covers the rock's surface. "I'm guessing that most of the time when people are doing this is at night," he said. Werner said the organization doesn't even track when new messages appear. ![]() Northern Water doesn't mind people painting the rock. "So we go back however many years we've been playing that game with the University of Wyoming and my guess is they probably started soon after that. "This is the highway to get between Fort Collins and Laramie," Werner said, pointing to 287. The two schools have faced off each fall since 1899. "All we know is it had to do with somebody stacking hay around it."Īs far as when the tradition of painting the rock started, Werner guessed sometime around the start of the annual "border war" game between Colorado State University and the University of Wyoming. "This sort of thing builds up legends throughout time," he said. "And it became Haystack Rock."Ĭourtesy of the archives at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery A photo of Haystack Rock taken in 1973.ĭepending on who's telling the story, sometimes it's the Union Pacific Railroad or the military being scammed, Werner said. "When he stuck his pitchfork into the hay, it scraped against something hard, like a rock," read a 1973 Triangle Review article about the con. The next day, he brought his wagon back.īut by that time, the farmer was long gone. The rancher went back to town and bragged about his "amazing" deal to friends and family. The idea was to make it look like a larger pile than it really was, Werner said.Ī highland rancher, who was new to town, then showed up to ask if it was for sale. The name "Haystack Rock" comes from a local legend.īack in the frontier days, a farmer decided - for fun - to cover the rock with hay. "In some ways it's become a First Amendment billboard through the years," Werner said. Now staff include it as a stop on tours.īrian Werner, Northern Water's communications director, keeps a fact sheet on hand for curious visitors. Its current owner, the Northern Water Conservancy District, purchased it in the mid-1980s. The land where it sits has changed hands over the years. It then tumbled down the hillside onto a grassy clearing where it sits today, less than 100 feet off of Highway 287. The granite boulder likely broke off from nearby sandstone cliffs millions of years ago. ![]() Northern Water purchased the land underneath the boulder in the mid 1980s. What they going to whats going to be the out Come in the meantime I'm going to cut Another hour how come poor people never get Aqquitted the mother fuckers say you did it then you did it The next thing you know your being sentenced Snoody ass fugitives psh good ridenceīitches you dont know how my life Is you aint ever had to live like this Made front of my off brand no name High tops my people couldnt afford nike's And reeboks but you aint about to pick on me mannn My family doing the best we can.Matt Bloom/KUNC Brian Werner, head of communications for Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, takes a photo of Haystack Rock. Man that wasnt it so lets take it from the top But being in here beats running from the cops And swallowing rocks so I dont get caught Knocked then locked, cuffed then booked And in the mean time court cases got me shooked ![]() All I set out to do was get some food And some rent money to Go tell the truth the vocal booth was my sanctuary I spent endless hours in there I was so contreart damn I tell my boy nick to stop
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