Show Moab I Then and Now Mardy Thomson daughter of ot Mr and Mrs C. C S S. S Thomson did dida a hit of ot n It descriptive piece on Moab for lor her college freshman English class The narrative type of description caused quite a stir and her Instructor praised her highly for tor the c composition which he said showed a very definite flair for writing The description of ot Moab colored up a abit abit abit bit perhaps makes good reading It follows By Mardy fardy Thomson M Moab ab the center of scenic grandeur Is located In south eastern Utah Like an oasis snuggled In hT the Moab welcomes all walks of life lIle Into her paradise A few years ago Moab was a small quiet and subtle little city thriving in the usual sm small smalltown smalltown town way The whole town ina in ina a gossiping way knew everyone within the city limits and all the neighboring towns Traffic was slow stores did a laIr fair amount of f business and the Moab Transportation was well known throughout Utah Colo rado and New Mexico In the spring Moab's fruit orchards in n full bloom scented the city like burning Incense When the fruit ripened and was shipped out by trucks Moab known not nt only for her breath taking breath taking scenery but also or oi her super super size fruit In the summer the nearby La Sal Mountains offered outdoor recreation rec for everyone Fall brought along her brown brawn leaves l large ripened mellons pears peaches and apples Through the narrow canyon and towering reddish the narrow shining bridge spanning span ning the Colorado River still glitters gUtters In the sunlight The old hermit who lives on the edge of af the river carts cares for his goats dogs and for nothing else The famous river lver spring with water ninety nine arid and one hundredths per cent pure runs endlessly and Invitingly for who ever takes a drink from this spring will always return John Ford the great movie I producer discovered Moab's spectacular spectacular spec spec- scenery Movies came cameto cameI to Moab and the people Joined to to make some easy money and Just lust for the fun tun of It The people looked forward to the coming of the movie to add ex excitement excitement to their sleepy little littletown littletown town The sleepy town always became wide awake on Saturday nights although Sunday m mornings mar mor r. r showed good attendance In church Then a ragged underfed little littleman littleman littleman man known as Hot Rock Charley Char ley Icy stumbled onto a large deposit de posit of high grade uranium ore near Moab This started it all Moab was invaded by Texans and they took over the place without firing a shot The sweet smelling fruit orchards or have been converted Into trailer courts The beautiful scenery now Includes tens and andOne andone andone one room shanties with a Cad lilac Iliac parked In front Old home i have been sold and in their place now stand a new service station or motel Real Estate flourishes and uranium claims are sold on every street corner while claim Jumpers play scotch hopsCotch on staked territories Ore trucks and Jeeps along with fat men In fine cars make safe sate driving another thing of the past lA II Anew new 1 police 01 force lorce was wal obtained to strengthen the old western style sheriff system Bad checks bounce In and out of the business houses to the bank People have forgotten the beautiful scenery and the La LaSal LaSal LaSal Sal mountains and spend all th their lr time with gelger counters Jaunting miles In search of a ahot ahot ahot hot spot to get rich quick The old dance hall hail has been converted Into a modern fur fur- store and uranium oUI ces Moab patrons dance in a garage where they should have havea a gas mask to keep from being suffocated by dust The general appearance is that of an old folks' folks party This Is because dust has greyed hair eyelashes and settled a ghastly look upon smiling faces Moab ls is widely known throughout through out the United States Prominent Prominent ent magazines have featured articles on the Uranium Center Center Cen Cen- I ter of the World and papers have run continued stories on the fabulous M MI Mine d n e C Though Moab b may be known as Little Texas or true il will always love Moab and down deep the mem memo memorIes iries rIes are ever Ner lasting |