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Show Page A6 Eimfg-(31tftepenh- Thursday, September 4, 2003 ntt Idle Thoughts from Mt. Waas by Ollie Harris Many Trails GIFTED PHOTOGRAPHER There is a good description of what it takes A by Adrien F. Taylor under way. There are plans for one of the largest uranium mills ever built. Some residents like the bustle; others deplore it. Regardless of their feelings, Moab probably never will be the same again. Photos are by an E. O. Eisenhand, of the Associated Press, and suspect the prose is also his (or hers!). At any rate, the writer has a fine way with words, and some of them resonate still today, nearly 50 years later. Memory Lane Thrift Store came by an historic old newspaper page in the bottom of a box of books, and loaned it to us for perusal and sharing. The photo on page A2's Look Back in Time comes from that page. The newspaper was named the Evening Outlook, of Santa Monica, Calif., and the date was March 12. 1955. Evidently the newspaper ran a regular featured entitled This Weeks Picture Show," and that weeks was entitled Uranium Boom Town in huge type across the top. A photo to match shows Main Street, looking north. The left side of the street reveals the old Millers Clothing and Dry Goods, which space is now occupied by Slick Rock Cafe and Ice Cream for Living Rivers. It was painted white back then, and sported a deep awning out front. Gas stations occupied the space where the Moab Information Center and Pasta Jay's now stand. There is a photo of old Jack Holley, who was 82 at the time. Known as The Goat Man, this photo shows him with the largest goat have ever seen. Here is the text accompanying the photo page: Moab is an oasis, a finger of greenery, sealed away from the harsh eastern Utah desert by Vermillion cliffs. Just to the north, the Colorado River slithers away into a gorge which gradually deepens until it becomes the Grand Canyon far downstream. The once sleepy little town, founded by the Mormons, seems the least likely of places to be caught in the swirl of the atomic age, yet it throbs with a boom brought on by the present-da- I aft found the news and advertising on the back of the feature page as interesting as the front. One item is entitled: Elizabeth Taylor Leaves Santa Monica Hospital. It reads: Actress Elizabeth Taylor, Mrs. Michel Wilding in private life, left Santa Monica Hospital yesterday with her new son. The child, her second, was born on the actress' birthday, Feb. 17. Another bears the headline: Woman President Nominee Foreseen. Sen. Neuberger, a democrat from Oregon, made the prediction. Among other things, Newberger said, There is no real effort to cater to the special problems and interests of women and all too many men in politics fail to recognize this need. Greater participation in public life by women might improve the quality of I government." Neuberger also said that If a woman can ably serve as a senator, why shouldnt a competent lawyer be appointed to the Supreme Court? That part, at least, has happened. aft Our good friend Gene Pack will be narrating the Moab Music Festivals program entitled "Author! Author!" on Saturday, Sept. 6, an event I would very much like to attend. However, have a prior engagement of some 43 years standing, y feverish hunt for uranium. Moab is the busiest place on the whole Colorado Plateau, a desert area fanning out from the point where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico come together. It is the center of a land of uranium strikes. Prospectors who have struck it big, like Vernon Pick and Charles Steen, are legendary figures and inspiration to the thousands I you might say. Its the class reunions of Grand County High School from 1 956 to 1 959 (and with spouses and friends from both sides of that time frame also involved). have sisters coming from Arizona and Colorado, along with our mother, so were going to have a little family reunion as well. Those who do attend the Sept. 6 concert, though, are in for a special treat. The others of us will have to be satisfied with Piano Talk, Paquito DRivera and Friends, and the other outstanding offerings of the Moab Music Festivals 1 1 th season. other miners and prospectors roaming the area. Night and day, trucks piled high with gray, black or yellowish rock roll down Moabs main street. It's live rock, radioactive uranium ore, on its way to the big mills to be pulverized and cooked. Business is booming. Stores are being remodeled. New enterprises are opening. Trailers help relieve a housing shortage. New building projects are of I to be considered a gifted person. The discussion suggests you envision three interlocking rings. Each ring interlocks with each other. One of the rings represents raw IQ. A gifted person is one who, among other things, has a very superior IQ. Numerically speaking, the IQ would be 130 or higher. Another of the rings represents creativity. A gifted person by definition must be creative. behavior. The third ring represents That is to say that for a person to be considered gifted he or she must be able to stick to a task until it is completed. If one of the rings wavers or is missing the person ceases to be gifted. There are examples of people having high IQs who never amounted to anything. They may have been very smart but demonstrated little creativity, or they may have been both very creative and highly intelligent but could never seem to stick to anything long enough to see it come to fruition. They may have been very creative and worked with dogged determination but simply lacked the high IQ to be considered gifted. AD three rings must be in place at the same time for a person to be identified as gifted. To tell the truth, there are very few truly gifted people. I hang out with Kay Shumway as much as our busy schedules allow. I have no way of knowing what number might be attached to his intelligence. There is peripheral evidence that it is high. I mean, a Ph.D. in genetics cant be easy. I have, though, observed that he is creative and that he sticks like glue to a task. He pretty much has his rings together. Just between you and me, I suspect that he is a gifted person. Ive been giving it some thought and have concluded that he is also a gifted photographer. What does it take to be a gifted photographer? I think there are three more rings that we could take a look at. Id say that one of the rings would represent equipment or tools. Another would on-tas- k by Sam Taylor We havent seen Seabiscuit yet, but since it has been held over again at the local theater, it is definitely on our list of things to do. Everyone weve talked to who has seen the box office hit movie has loved it. I'm sure we will too. What few locals don't know is that former Grand Junction resident, Tom Smith, was the trainer of the real Seabiscuit. Silent Tom" worked for many years on the Casement Ranch in Unaweep Canyon near Grand Junction, leaving to become a horse trainer when the ranch was sold. Mary Smith of Grand Junction, wife of Smiths nephew, Loyd Smith, remembers the reaction to Silent Toms success. He was kind of quiet and he Loyd didnt talk a lot, but he was quite proud of his Uncle Tom and his successes with horses because thats the one thing he was interested in. Had the concept of a horse whisperer been around in the 1940s, Tom Smith would have been considered just that." His special way of watching hoses and knowing what they would do was a gift, Mary Smith said. What most locals dont know was that Tom was a nephew of the late Chet Smith, who cowboyed for Charlie, and later Hardy Redd out of their La Sal ranch headquarters, refusing to retire even when he was several decades over the qualification for senior citizen status. And even though his home was listed as La Sal, he spent most of his cowboy career at his beloved line camp located in the isolated canyons west of La Sal Junction. knew Chet pretty well. He was a man hard to not like.-- quiet man, he frequently dropped in to say hello when in town to do some banking and pick up supplies. He also loved to come into town for the Saturday night dances in the 1950s and 60s. was also at those affairs, playing slide trom bone for Krug's Orchestra. Chet was tough and wiry and loved the outdoors. Hardy Redd tells the story about he time he and his family, while staying at the Redd summer ranch in La Sal Pass, decided one day that they would climb Mt. Peale, which loomed over the summer place. They made great preparations, packed lunches, and left the ranch early in the morning. After a strenuous climb over the acres of sliderock (every rock on Mt. Peale is loose and hard to negotiate), they arrived at the summit of Utah's third highest mountain about They opened the register can to add their names. Above the lines where their names would go was the notation: Chet Smith. climbed Mt. Peale on my 80th birthday. Made it to the top at 10 a.m. Chet was quite a guy, and totally loyal to the Charlie Redd ranching operation. In Charlies declining years, Chet was a frequent visitor, and one the legendary rancher loved to have visit. From 1 936 to 1 940, many around the country followed the undersized and overweight Seabiscuit's races. Seabiscuit's victory at Pimlico overTriple Crown winner War Admiral is regarded as the greatest horse race in history. Silent Tom was there. Silent Tom left Mesa County around 1930 and died in 1957. He is buried in Glendale, Calif. The Mt. Peale story reminds me of the time climbed Mt. Peale (from the wrong side), along with three friends, only two of whom made it to the top with me. took a picture of the three of us on top of the peak. It is a cherished reminder of that adventure, which frankly, scared the dickens out of us. Ill save that 1957 story for another column. mid-da- I I I I I (EIjc '3Ihncs-3lttbcpcnbc- nt ISSN ) (UPS) Entered as Second class Matter at the Post Office at Moab, Utah under the Act Second class postage paid at Moab, Utah 84532. Official City and County Newspaper. Published each Thursday at: 35 East Center Street, Moab, Grand County, Utah 84532 1538-183- 6309-2000- 8 of March 3, 1897. address: editormoabtimes.com Postmaster: Send changes of address to: The Member NATIONAL RO. Box 129, Moab, UT 84532 Times-lndepende- or 435-259-75- FAX 435-259-77- and UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION A Hrifin C TiiIap Di iKItckrtrf O nmi iaI wci iuci Ui anu rtui Ibi i i uwiioi id Tom Taylor Zane Taylor Ron Flanders Lisa Church Jeff Richards Lisa Taylor Dorothy Anderson Circulation T-- Press, Production Manager Systems Manager Contributing Writer Contributing Writer Contributing Writer Mail Room Supervisor Ron Drake Ron Georg Oliver Harris Brian Donegan Derek Long logged countless hours of experience and has attended seminars with some of the world's top photographers. He is widely read on the subject. Add to the ring of tools the ring of craftsmanship. There is one particular ring that most separates Kay from us wannabe photographers. It is the ring of k behavior. Kay spends each week in the field makhours many, many and These hours are followed ing taking photos. others the at computer screen evaluating by and printing. He is passionate about it. Add the final ring of behavior and I believe you on-tas- on-tas- k have a gifted photographer. Just as in the discussion of gifted persons, if one of the rings that makes a gifted photographer wavers or is missing, he ceases to be gifted. There are people with the craftsmanship and the equipment who just arent out there taking pictures. There are people who have nice equipment and are out trying but who do not have the craftsmanship. There are good craftsmen who are but simply do not have the equipment to create a good photo from the raw material. Again, Kay has his rings together. Im working on it. None of my rings are as firmly in place as Kays and may never be. But, once in a while I experience a flash of what it must be like to be a gifted photographer. Meanwhile, whenever I see Kay I check to see if he is carrying his folder. If he is I am most pleased because it means he has one or more exquisite photos to share. on-tas- k Writers on the Range One way to get rid of Lake Powell Whats in a name? Controversy, as I learned about 25 years ago when I began editing a newspaper in Breckenridge, Colo., I called one local Dillon attraction what Id always called it Reservoir. The nearby Dillon Chamber of Commerce told me that it was scenic Lake Dillon. I argued that it was not a natural alpine lake, but just a manmade supply facility for Denver. We compromised; thereafter the Summit County Journal called it Lake Dillon Reservoir. Something similar, though on a bigger and more serious scale, could be happening to the name of the water stored upstream of Glen Canyon Dam, commonly known as Lake Powell. According to Russell Martins fine history of the project, A Story That Stands Like a Dam: Glen Canyon and the Struggle for the Soul of the West, it was christened in the spring of 1959 by Floyd Dominy, just before he was promoted to director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Republicans wanted to name it for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Democrats pushed for Sen. Carl Hayden of Arizona, who had long championed his states water projects against Republican opposition. John Wesley Powell was too far in the past to be partisan, and Powell Reservoir and Powell Lake didnt sound quite right, so Dominy settled on Lake Powell, Martin wrote. Civil War veteran, floated Powell, a and explored the canyons of the Colorado River in 1869 and 1871, and on those trips he named Glen Canyon. The Powell name angered Edward Abbey, who wrote in Desert Solitaire that The impounded waters form an artificial lake named Powell, supposed to honor but actually to dishonor the memory, spirit, and vision of Major John Wesley Powell ... Where he and his brave men once lined the rapids and glided through silent canyons 2,000 feet deep the motorboats now smoke and whine ... However, even Powell believed in impounding water throughout the West, although he later became the patron saint of whitewater river rafting guides. Now theres a Coalition to Rename Lake Powell, headed by Nancy Jacques of Durango, Colo. She points out that lake is usually applied to a natural body of water, and reservoir to an artificial site. Further, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names does not like duplicates, and one-arme- d long before the dam at Glen Canyon, there was in Colorados Rocky Mouna Lake Powell tain National Park, up at the start of the Colorado River. Its name most likely comes from an 1868 Powell trip, when he and four other men made the first recorded climb of 14,255-foo- t Longs Peak. They came in from the west, on a route that passed this little lake. On that basis, and the use of lake for a reservoir, Jacques petitioned the Board on Geographic Names last March. Unlike Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Reservoir is not a duplicate, she said. It's accurate because it calls a reservoir a reservoir, and it reminds us of what is under the water. Place names should tell us where we stand. Page, Ariz., sits next to the dam, and its easy to tell where people there stand, according to Chris Sheid, editor of the weekly Lake Powell Chronicle. In a recent editorial, he wrote that the proposal comes from a group of people, many of whom dont even live in Arizona ... (who) want to come in and change something that local people and agencies decided on a long time ago. The newspapers Website found 92 percent of those surveyed opposed. Some of the groups supporting the name change are groups that want to drain the lake, he said, and of course thats not going to be popular in Page that lake is our livelihood. The proposed name change, though, might aid those people who want to drain it, since it might be easier to get support for draining a reservoir instead of a lake. Jacques said thats not the case, even though many supporters would prefer the canyon to the lake. And it shouldnt be up to just the people of Page, since this was a federal project for the whole country. Shes urging people to just start calling it Glen Canyon Reservoir, no matter what the Geographic Board rules when it gets around to holding hearings and announcing a decision. Anybody willing to try my old compromise with a chamber of commerce, and use some mouthful like Lake Powell Glen Canyon Reservoir? Ed Quillen is a contributor to Writers on the Range, an essay service of High Country News (hcn.org). He lives in Salida, Colo., where he publishes Colorado Central Magazine and writes frequently for the Denver Post. Mlassi tied ads due bu iajfiwi Adrien F. Taylor, Editor Sadie Warner, Assistant Editor Manager, l Maps Jed Taylor, Jose Santana k High Country News r NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION on-tas- 4 by Ed Quillen Community Comments represent craftsmanship. The third would be the ubiquitous behavior. has good photographers tools includKay ing cameras, lenses, tripods and stuff that I dont even recognize. He also has the computer, the programs, the printer and quality papers needed to fill out the ring that represents equipment. Kay is also a master of his craft. He has I ds, Backshop Castle Valley Columnist Columnist Columnist J 5 o.m. Jrida j I photos and news items gladly accepted through Monday noon for publication in Graphics, Design Distribution K. the next issue of Jhe "Times'-Independe- nt J |