Show SOME MOAB VIEWS upper left to right county hospital court house W 0 W hall second row A view of main street third row left to right baptist church bridge across the colorado river fourth row left to right high school central school L D S church and recreation hall lower row left to right moab cooperative store star opera house the following article with the accompanying accompany inc illustrations was published in the grand junction daily sentinel of last sunday the story being written by edward T barber agricultural editor of the sentinel the vast region lying between the continental divide on its east and the crest of the wasatch mountains on its west extending from the yellowstone park to the gulf of california forms the drainage of the colorado river historically and geologically it Is one of the most valleys on the face of the earth within its boundaries are found remains of prehistoric animals in such numbers as to indicate that even before man inhabited the earth this valley was a prolific source of animal food remains of the prehistoric races of men testify to the same fact that here was a source of food of unusual volume and value e archaeological tel mony indicates nat the oldest civilization on the earth developed in this colorado basin aleast two different races of men arose flourished and disappeared before the advent of the indian who was found here by the white man geologically this valley has no counterpart on the face of the earth A vast deposit of red sandstone thousands of feet thick cut and gashed and seamed by the colorado river and I 1 its tributaries tributa ries into fantastic canons leaving innumerable flat topped mountains or mesas like islands surrounded by the sea of canyons and valleys with here and there a chain of rugged granite mountains sticking up through the sandstone like giant gems in a setting of ruby throughout the bons eons of time since basin was formed the elements have wrought many of the most gigantic and interesting rocks and mountain formations domes cathedrals castles spires natural bridges under which the capitol at washington could be placed without its highest point touching the bridge canyons of such giant proportions and intrinsic natural beauty as to stagger the human mind hidden away in the hearts of these mountains or buried in the vast nesses of the deserts nature has deposited stores of minerals metals and valuable chemicals oil gas coal oil shale and multitudes of precious hydrocarbon compounds in such volume as to challenge human imagination in addition nature has stored in the soils of these innumerable valleys and in the grazing of the mountains agricultural that would make king midas envious the land of moab is one of these fertile valleys it lies about miles down the river from grand junction it is a valley some fifteen miles long and two or three miles wide in shape like the flat surface of a bartlett pear cut from stem to blossom with the end to the south let the skin of the VIEW OF EAST END OF MOAB GARAGE CAMP PARK pear rise a thousand feet in the form of sandstone cliffs with the colorado river crossing the extreme blossom end and you have an idea of the valley of which the little city of moab utah county seat of grand county Is the center federal highway no connects moab with the transcontinental highway no 50 at thompsons Thomp sons utah 35 miles north and also with the main line of the D R G W railway this highway Is a fine hard surfaced road and Is the transportation artery to all of southeastern utah and south colorado you travel over it when you visit the great natural bridges and other scenic attractions of that wonderful section moab Is an oasis in the desert where you will find all of the most modem conveniences while you rest and use it as a central point for your excursions in the wonderland of attractions beyond the dreams of alice in wonderland city water electric lights telephone and telegraph stores that would be a credit to any city comfortable tourist camps congenial people auto passenger and truck service a river stocked with channel cat think of it channel cat in abundance with comfortable boats and accommodating guides to take you on either river or land excursions cur into this land of wonders the moab game association anticipated your vacation pleasures by stocking the river at this point with channel cats several years ago so that at this time the supply furnishes abundant sport the association also provides the boats and the guides for your excursions A fine houseboat Is available capable of carrying people entering this magic valley from the north you burst through a wall of red sandstone directly on the river bank A short distance above there Is a splendid bridge across the river the only highway crossing between fruita and lees ferry a distance of miles two or three miles down the valley from the bridge you enter the little city of moab population 1000 altitude feet the very large percentage of modem appearing residences surrounded by well kept grounds is the first feature to greet your eyes A short trip about town reveals also an unusual number of tine buildings also more than the usual number of well bulloc business houses the cooper martin general merchandise stoie R J fletcher manager would be a credit to a city ten times the size of moab the moab cooper co oper active general store has a tine building R J areld manager J T learning mayor also president of the lions club conducts a modern drug store john peterson Is manager for the peterson mercantile investment company dr J W williams conducts a grocery and hardware store mrs hattle blevins Is the owner and manager of the merchants hotel the moab garage company has one of the continued on last page THE COOPER MARTIN STORE the land of moab continued from first page ebest equipped and spacious garages in utah the owners of this ente pris ing concern are U E baldwin R dark baldwin R J fletcher and don taylor they also have a line tourist camp with eight cottages in charge of good A first national bank capital surplus of deposits of Z L goudelock president and H G green cashier the tunes inde pendent L L taylor proprietor Is a model country newspaper and print shop equipped with modem machinery V P walker operates a barber chop A mcleod operates macs place a popular pool hall J L shaker operates the shafer pool hall R dark la manager of the ides theater equipped with talking apparatus V R bush lumber company Is managed by W E bush two tine modem school houses employing fourteen teachers with D S L mccorkle superintendent and J M harvey principal of the ugh school a fully accredited school A H newman principal of the central school the moab lions club has 25 active members it sponsored the collection of material tor this story and appointed W D hammond H W balsley and A mcleod a committee to pilot the writer on an inspection of the city and its valley the women s literary club mrs J learning president is more than a literary club it also serves as a civic improvement association the grand county hospital is equipped with 20 beds and the most modern hospital equipment operating room X ray etc all in charge of dr I 1 W alien a most and accomplished complis hed physician and surgeon the hospital Is supported by the county the L D S congregation has just completed a building and the baptists have put into improvements prove ments of their church property the city is supplied with power and light from a plant of the utah power light company a hydroelectric hydro electric plant supplemented by an auxiliary gasoline plant tor emergencies the moab pipe line company supplies the city with water arom a mountain spring about three miles away the midland telephone company of which M N due of grand junction Is president and J W coram Is vice president and manager owns and operates a modern metallic circuit telephone line cooperating with the mountain states telephone telegraph company the grand county fair is held annually at moab and Is one of the outstanding fair organizations of eastern utah and western colorado moab Is not lacking in professional men C A robertson and knox patterson represent the legal profession and the medical profession Is represented by dr I 1 W alien and dr J W williams dentistry by dr J W shepard the insurance and real estate business Is represented by carroll J meador resources supporting moab peeping above the red sandstone cliffs surrounding the city to the south and east are the snow capped peaks of the massive la sal mountains here 13 cattle and sheep are grazed from june until october there are million feet of ripe yellow pine and spruce ready for the saw feet of this Is placed on the loi cal market annually by local saw mills folster Is supervisor of this for ers with headquarters in moab the moab irrigation company supplies water from mill creek having its head in the la sal mountains for some 2000 acres of agricultural land in the valley and such farm land it will produce anything eatable the semitropical semi tropical climate coupled with the fertile soil spells abundance of farm products with perhaps less labor than any other place in the west livestock SHEEP in addition to the range in the la sal national forest for 64 head of sheep during the summer season the vast desert to the north and west of moab supplies winter range for more than a million sheep lamb feeding during the winter months is becoming a profitable industry some lambs are shipped out of moab D L goudelock don taylor james somerville bert allred A M robertson tom taylor lester taylor W D hammond west hammond lester walker will and george beeson R lee kirk and son and J E snyder are moab sheep men CATTLE some 30 head of cattle are ranged by moab and grand county people on private and forest ranges pace brothers co sommerville cattle co H J holyoak sons bert newell J loveridge sons G 0 patterson 0 V riordan J M geo 0 larsen J S westwood newell dalton and geo W johnson are among the representative cattlemen of the district centering about moab POULTRY AND TURKEYS the past few years poultry production has developed into a major industry in the moab valley R dark earl dalton J W corbin and ralph miller are representative poultry producers who make it an important source of income last year about turkeys were shipped out of the moab country for thanksgiving and christmas markets the success of the turkey industry has been such that plans tor greatly increasing it this year are under way J T learning R J pletcher thomson brothers H evans john young B H hector william and edward cooley are rep j turkey producers who are interested in promoting the industry DAIRYING the dairy industry will admit a great expansion in the moab country at present the cream produced is shipped direct to grand junction creameries crea meries but interest Is being aroused in the industry and the introduction tro of more cows of the dairy type mineral resources the volume and different varieties of hydrocarbon hydro carbon compounds found in the colorado river drainage basin can be excelled no place in the world in the moab country these take the form of oil deposits which have been prospected just sufficiently to determine their presence and location one well 8 miles below moab came in as a gusher a few years ago it has been capped and held for future development at present a well is being drilled in salt valley 15 miles north of moab the big indian copper mine is 40 miles southeast of moab where a large mill has been erected in dry valley 45 miles southeast of moab the international ter vanadium corporation Is operating a large vanadium mill moab Is in the same field as paradox valley just across the colorado line in which deposits of the rare metals vanadium and uranium are found gold and silver are found in small quantities in the la sal mountains inexhaustible deposits of coal are in the book cliff mountains to the I 1 north of moab dry farmin dry farming methods have proven successful on the higher lands around moab john dark has a 30 acre grape vineyard on a dry farm at moab which has produced remarkable results the resources supporting the city of moab livestock agriculture mineral and scenic attractions exist all in the superlative degree the present population is so small in proportion to the volume of resources that up to date these resources have merely been prospected sufficiently to demonstrate their magnitude and their presence the mild climate the protected location the vastness and great value of the natural resources the ease with which these resources may be converted into active assets make the moab valley one of the most pleasant and desirable locations for either business or pleasure to be found in the intermountain west |