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Show htv oi Churches... : v L June 10. l!s. iM" which Uy nestled just 7 .of the n,t-S!,s nJ can-vo"s the n!!hlv m0UI,,lUn in a, Utah that had J, turned Seria U S.1 by first surveyors. The valley ttrnunaleJ on the North-, North-, t,vide sweeping bend hf Grand (Colorado) River it pursued It's endless and Utitin task of carrying ,v the whole, huge, eroding tfiu through which It odd it's a.v ,oward ,he H of California. From a distance away, the Hey itself, now known as Vallev. seemed to be Vred with sagebrush and shrubbery except for A' banks of the two mountain v tarns which joined together ilushly green Yin the lower d widest part. A closer V imination of this apparently uewhat hostile environment A wgh would have revealed to AVareful observer a multitude 1 y life and activity as insects, Wes. rodents and wildlife in .j,t numbers lived together i surprisingly wide variety 'V egetation and formed an jlosicaJ balance that has ' ' ver since been quite the i'fce because, on the next M: P111)' f men entered Jo this tranquil spot with mictions to male peace 'ji the Indians and prepare f valley for colonization. So .- !j- diverted the water of the iuntain streams into an Ngstion system and planted ' ; rt of the more level land into "tin, fruit and vegetables to 'p support the families who uld follow them. lThiswas the "Elk Mountain psion" and it had been anized under the direction Mormon leader and coloni-l coloni-l t, Brigham Young. The "1 !ty was led by Alfred N. 'i Engs and carried sufficient I d, tools and supplies for a ir. After a long, hot, : ifaous and dusty journey i loss the desert wastes, they ' ered the spectacular can-. can-. n down which the present . fchway 163 descends to the L r. They had a fairly easy i! by following the dry ( tam bed until they arrived fit at a sheer drop off of ubout 25 feet. This problem was overcome over-come by letting the wagons down piece by piece with ropes and then reassembling them at the lower level. Men and horses descended over a hazardous trail which was laborously hacked out of the adjoining bluff. The next obstacle was the river Itself, which they were able to ford without undue difficulty or mlshnp. These new Inhabitants of Moab Valley were carefully observed but not particularly welcomed by a sullen, unfriendly un-friendly group of Indians who were obviously less than happy about the prospect of sharing their beautiful valley with the hated white man. They, after all, knew about what to expect and from past experience they reasoned am ongst themselves that these trespassers would soon take over the whole country and, since the Indians didn't want to move out, they decided to make it tough on the new settlers. That they succeeded very well is attested to by historical facts. According to their instructions, the Mormons Mor-mons built a fort of stones from the nearby canyon wall in order to have some defense from the constant sniping, thieving and marauding of their redskin neighbors. They had diverted the water from the largest of the streams (Millcreek) and were in the process of irrigating the parched earth, plowing the land and planting their seeds when the Indian attacks grew more frequent and vicious i r J) ' .; U J I Seventh-day Adventlst J NT iaMailsiieili until, with three of the party dead, they reluctantly decided to pack up and go buck home and mayoe come back again some other time. And so the Elk Mountain Mission was one of the few colonizing failures by the Mormons. In their haste to depart, they left the water flowing In the Irrigation 5 ditches so that when the next I white men arrived in the area they found a deep arroyo down the middle of the valley which had not been In natures plans, originally. During the next couple of decades, there were occasional trappers and explorers who came, stopped briefly and then went on. Among the more "permanent" settlers were a couple of fellows who were known as "Frenchie" and "Nigger Bill". They moved into the stone fort built by the i i Grace Lutheran r -" - . ' Special J Times- Independent Photo Feature I) bY s Uzel Foote J: Mormons and are said to have made an agreeable land settlement by dividing the valley with each taking half. Other interests beckoned to them, however, and they both moved away before they could capitalize on their shared posession. By 1879, cattlemen had moved in to take advantage of the fine grazing and several families had established themselves, so the valley was slowly but finally permanently colonized. There was occasional oc-casional trouble with the Indians but the white man now had undisputed control and most of the things needed by the new community were provided one by one; homes, farms, roads, fences, store, school, saloon and even a church. For by this time, the Mormons had returned in sufficient numbers that they felt the need for a house of worship so, under the direction direc-tion of Bishop Randolph Stewart, who had been called from Huntington, Emery County, Utah by church officials, to move to Moab and preside over the small group, a Ward Chapel was built in 1888 from native adobe and stone and later a stone recreation hall was constructed by local artisans. These buildings are still standing near the present Junior High School, the chapel is now known as the DUP (Daughters of the Utah Pioneers) Pio-neers) building and the recreation recre-ation hall is known as Star Hall which, after having been restored a few years ago, is still being used for school and community programs and I meetings. Other members of the 1 community who professed different Protestant faiths also felt the need for a religious meeting place, so they sort of banded together and built the Community Baptist Church on 1st North and 3rd East Streets which was used for many years until the growth of the congregation made it necessary neces-sary to construct their splendid new church. Meanwhile the Seventh Day Adventist Church purchased the old building, remodeled to their needs, and they now occupy the renewed facility. The Latter Day Saints outgTew their little building and in the 1920s a fine new brick church was built. This building was outgrown in the 1960s when a new impressive masonry structure was completed com-pleted and now in the 1970s another new church is being planned to house the religious activities of the Mormon people of the community. Most of the other denominations denom-inations have also had building programs so that Moab is blessed with a great number of excellent church facilities and almost anyone can find the church of his choice here. Among the churches represented repre-sented are the following: First Assembly of God Church, Church of Christ, Church of God of Prophecy, Community Baptist Church, Episcopal Church of St. Francis, First Baptist Church, LDS Church, Pentecostal Church of God, -V'4t -'First Baptist -y - v''' . ' ' . H . Lttniiir--1: 1 til i Latter-day Saints Chapel . ... - iti ..n,,,,,!,- - -.. in.-...-- --- t.: . i Community Baptist , 1 b. . . . -.vr,-i -.- . . ' i Church of Christ KINGDOM HALL'f, L or J ' : :v . -, ' Jehovah's Witnesses k " . - I. St. Francis Episcopal B Assembly of God |