Dr. John C. Johnson brought RMBL to life. A community has carried it forward.

Dr. Johnson first encountered Gothic on July 4, 1919. He had just finished a PhD in Parasitology at the Univ. of California, Berkeley and he was visiting friends and family in Gunnison for some rest. But by his own admission, Johnson was not someone for whom idleness came easy. He jumped at a friend’s invitation to drive to Gothic. Arriving early afternoon, he was struck by the wildflowers and shadows of Gothic Mountain. Shortly after the visit, Dr. Johnson accepted a position at Western as Dean and Head of Science.

In the 1920’s, along with others, he helped direct the Rocky Mountain Biological Station, a Western-sponsored field station, in the Taylor Canyon several miles above Almont on land set aside by congress for biology. Escaping the influence of the Klu Klux Klan on Western, in 1928 Dr. Johnson moved on to West Chester University of Pennsylvania, abandoning the Taylor vicinity. Remembering both Gothic’s beauty and abandoned buildings, that same summer Dr. Johnson established the Rocky Mountain Biological Station, soon to be rechristened the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, as a 501 c3 non-profit, accepting all responsibility for the finances.

While Dr. Johnson accepted the title as founder of RMBL, he noted that “The very warp and woof of the RMBL is made up of the scores of persons who have given freely of their time, their academic skill, and long hours of work of a very menial kind.” In an article for the Colorado Magazine Dr. Johnson cited community members who made RMBL possible, ranging from local Crested Butte families (e.g., the Yaklich’s, the Verzuh’s, and Mihelich’s), the USFS (e.g., Ranger Clifford Chappell), and county commissioners, listing approximately 50 scientists by name.