Marvin Rockwell and the Quaker Settlers

In 1951, Marvin Rockwell along with the members of seven Quaker families moved to Costa Rica. Rockwell was from Fairhope, Alabama where he and 3 other Quaker men had been incarcerated for a year for refusing to sign up for the draft because they were pacifists due to their religion. He had previously served in the Army in World War II as a medic and refused to carry a rifle. The Quakers had investigated several countries in Central America and had decided that Costa Rica was the best choice. Costa Rica had disbanded its army several years before making it an ideal choice. Rockwell traveled by train to through Mexico and then drove down to Nicaragua on non-exist roads in some areas and unpaved roads in others without a passport, at times clearing the pathway for their vehicle. He then flew from Managua, Nicaragua to Costa Rica. Marvin Rockwell recalls at the camp on Lake Nicaragua not being able to swim to cool down because of the presence of sharks. Lake Nicaragua is the only freshwater lake where sharks have adapted to the freshwater habitat. On February 4th 1951, his group arrived in San Jose after three months of travel. Once they had arrived they needed to find their own land to settle in, so they negotiated with a local man from Guatemala for land. They were looking for inexpensive land with a high elevation where there was abundant rainfall and good farm land. They bought about 3700 acres in an area that they named Monteverde or green mountain. Monteverde began with seven families, and then added four more later, consisting of forty-four members. The day of the land purchase was April 19th 1951, which is now known as Monteverde Day. Monteverde’s 3,400 acres, included a watershed, rainforest, and town. The rest of the land was divided into farms for the families. The main cash income production was the milk and cheese. In the first week production they manufactured 350 pounds og cheese, and now they produce approximately 8,000 pounds per day. Cheese served as the principle source of income of area until 1985 when it was overtaken by tourism. He also mentioned the limited job opportunities in the area, making the young people move away. He then told us about his second trip using his new truck that he bought in 1960, and getting it stuck in the mud and having to climb out the window. But, the journey this time the trip only took 3 weeks.

In 1972, Dr. George Powell, a biologist, moved to Monteverde and set up the Tropical Science Center and purchased about 800 acres of the tropical forest to protect the breeding grounds of the golden toad. As more and more scientist came to study the area and more funding was available they were able to purchase more land and start the Cloud Forest Reserve.

Marvin Rockwell started the 3rd hotel in Monteverde, where he worked as a tour guide for a short time. His parents moved to Costa Rica when they were 70 and lived to be 95 years old. He and his wife had two boys and then adopted a 1½ year old girl. Marvin has served as Monteverde’s doctor putting his medic experience to good use. For Christmas of 1971, he returned to Indiana to visit his family, where he had a job selling chocolate. Last year, Mr. Rockwell turned 91 years old and had his 50th anniversary of living in Monteverde.