A Grand Junction man was indicted late Tuesday for allegedly selling and transporting Indian artifacts taken from public lands in Colorado.
Named in the indictment returned by the federal grand jury in Denver was Robert B. Knowlton, 66. He is accused of selling a “cloud blower” pipe, used by American Indian medicine men and for ceremonial purposes; a “midland point,” a type of Indian arrowhead; and a “hell gap knife,” an Indian knife resembling a large arrowhead.
Knowlton sold the pipe for $750 and the knives for $3,000 each, according to the indictment. He allegedly knew that the three items, characterized as “archaeological resources,” had been stolen or taken by fraud, said the indictment. He is accused of mailing the three artifacts from Colorado to Utah.
The offense allegedly occurred in Fort Collins.
“The value of any particular artifact is not that it can be hunted, looted, traded and sold as a collectible novelty treasure,” said Jeanne Proctor, the Bureau of Land Management special agent in charge. “Rather, the true nature of cultural resources lies in their context, as well as the sacred and scientific meanings such archaeological artifacts provided us as a people.”
Proctor said removing, collecting and selling artifacts from BLM land and national forests is a federal crime and that BLM agents are trained to investigate such thefts.
James Davis, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s special agent in charge in Denver, said the FBI worked with the BLM to crack the case.
“These resources are part of America’s history,” said Davis.
Knowlton faces four counts of selling and transporting an archaeological resource. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $20,000 fine on each count. If convicted of the one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
