For decades, Otho Bridge was a beloved gathering place for a small community of Moab locals who lived in Mill Creek Canyon. That era has come to an end—the last person left the canyon a few years ago. Then, last spring, the Bureau of Land Management dismantled the site at Otho Bridge, including the famous sandstone chessboard. In this story, we speak with a BLM archaeologist and a member of that original Mill Creek community about the line between art and vandalism, community and public land.

Photo by Emily Arntsen/KZMU