Plains resident looks to solve rock carving mystery

It’s an intriguing question that Plains area resident Ed Farmer would love to solve.

While scouting out deer hunting sites on his property northeast of town a few years ago, Farmer’s son Nicholas noticed a name and date that had been carved into a rock ledge from which he, his dad and brothers had sat upon while scanning the valley below for some venison on the hoof. The name and date have survived more than a century with all but one of the letters in the name still readable. The third letter of the last name, Farmer thinks, is an “o” but may also be an “a”.

“Nicholas was the one who saw the name,” Farmer said during an inspection of the site with a Valley Press reporter in tow. “It created quite the mystery as to who this guy was.”

The inscription, scratched into the rocky overhang read simply “John Crossen,” with the did 1915 carved next to the name.

Since that time, Farmer, a retired contractor, has been on a quest to find out who Crossen was.

“I talked with an older lady a few years ago who overheard me talking about the name and date on the rock,” he said. “She came over and said she knew the guy, but had no solid details of why he would have been there or where he may have been living. That’s the one and only time I saw that lady and to this date she’s the only one who said she knew the name”.

Farmer and his family have lived on the property for several decades. He brings up the topic frequently but so far the old lady, whom he doubts would still be alive, was the only one to say she knew who he was.

“It’s become a real mystery we would like to solve,” he said. “There is no record of anybody by that name having lived on the property before my family bought it, and there were no old buildings or foundations to indicate who Crossen was and what he may have been doing there.”

Farmer said he suspects the rock carving was made by someone who was likely looking for deer or other game. The property has an abundance of deer and other large animals, including bears.

“We’ve always had good luck hunting in that general area and had no doubt passed right by the inscription while we were hunting,” he said. “I think chances are he was in that area hunting also.”

Farmer said he is hoping someone in the area will recognize the name and come forward with an answer to what has been a multiple years puzzle.

Farmer and his sons built a hunting cabin near the rocky outcrop several years ago, but there is no evidence they have seen that anyone established any kind of permanent settlement on or near the site.

Anyone who may have information about the mystery man can send an email to: cbandel@aol.com. Farmer said he is hoping someone will recognize the name and provide a clue or two on which to continue his search for information.

“It would be really good to find out who the guy was, might well have been just a regular guy passing through the area, it’s just something we would like to know.”