J.D. Howard owned no car or house, yet spent much of his life studying the Lava Beds area, walking along the shore of Tule Lake from Merrill. He discovered many geologic features, naming, describing, and photographing them, and was particularly interested in exploring and mapping the caves. Many of the names he gave them can still be seen, painted in his own unique style, on the walls. He brought Modoc warrior Peter Schonchin there and recorded his memories of the events of the Modoc War. He led tours through the caves and around the battlefields. His continuous pressure on Forest Service officials contributed significantly to the establishment of the monument on November 21, 1925. Judd was born at Fort Atkinson, Iowa, on January 9, 1875, and died in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on December 15, 1961.