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Show converted to a facility for "troublesome" Japanese-Americans, who had been disruptive at other camps. (For a complete story of this ae tale, see “Moab’s Concentration Camp" by Lloyd But with the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1946, uranium and the crazed search for it was seldom out of the news. The AEC attempted to set a low price for the ore and independent miners complained bitterly of government intrusion and the instability of the market. In Moab, the Chamber of Commerce continued to push for the construction of a new entrance road into Arches National Monument, a new bridge was constructed over the Colorado River and, in 1949, Hollywood director John Ford discovered the natural beauty of the Moab area when he brought his production company to town to film Wagonmaster. Pierson on page 20 of this issue). On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally to Allied forces after six years. of war and the death of tens of millions of soldiers and non-combatants. Meanwhile America tried to adjust to its new president, Harry Truman, after the death of Franklin Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. In Moab, citizens were already looking to the post-war future. On May 3, the Bureau That same year the Moab Film Commission was established. of Reclamation announced plans to build a dam on the Colorado River, just upstream from waters from this dam would back almost all the way to yet another In the coming decade, movies and tourism would play a larger but still minor role in proposed dam near Dewey Bridge. The cost of both dams was expected to exceed $35,000,000. pee tae a ES43 oie ees eea Se ee the life and times of Moab, Utah. Something else lurked just beyond the shadows in those Moab. Impounded last days of 1949 that would transform Moab forever. The Cold War and the American Dream were about to collide with each other in this sleepy little orchard town. In five years we would be called “The Uranium Capital of the World, "and Charlie Steen would become Plans aie Bureau1 Completes Dewey Dam at Pam . $30,000,000 Power ‘TORE a 1G. BIG tt = Crese L or ws Sis WEN SIX nanny. Cl It bout Start R ead , May Indicates Work Prroject +ie : Vets ick0 he LTee A Development Serve Magnesium Magnesium rf To Project canned wu ae Survey Ae ‘are its king. Neri ee ea Plans to develop southeast Utah's natural resources were well underway when America entered the war. cel In fact, the Bureau of Reclamation’s dam-building proposals on the Colorado River were staggering, and called for the construction of massive dams that, if completed, would stop the free-flow of almost every mile of the Colorado, from its headwaters, all the way to the Gulf of California. Let’s Back Up. But post-war plans to tame the river took a back seat to the war. A short notice in the Times-Independent announced that "the first ore to be consigned to the new Moab vanadium Presidlentwey. Dewey: ce se stock pile...reached Moab on Tuesday, when Ray Bennett delivered two large truckloads." The story meant very little to most Moabites, because none of them knew government really intended to use it. But on August 6, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress under the command of Tibbetts, Jr. winged its way from the island of Tinian toward Japan. bombardier Tom Ferebee released the world’s first atomic bomb over the city just how the wie ir g away, Moabites were stunned to discover DHlican ee i eeeak its lethal 5quail@GrandCanyonBooks.com Fax: 602.861.1113 Voice: 602.861.0548 Moab residents knew the road to wealth and two week world tours lay in the i1c.100s. 4108 Moab, UT 84532 435.259.4384 800.635.5280 Quotes and want lists welcome. Stock shown by appointment only. JOHN & JIM RE-CREATE FAMOUS 3 GENERALS WW ote w Harry Truman October 1948 ¢ Grand Canyon National Park history, hiking, etc. ¢ Colorado River exploration, river running, etc. ¢ Mormon history, etc. ¢ Fred Harvey Company, Santa Fe Railroad ¢ Glen Canyon and Rainbow Bridge— ¢ USGS bulletins, professional papers and water-supply papers Catalogues issued regularly. On-line catalogs at http://www.GrandCanyonBooks.com What does THIS have to do with our business? FROM a Quail Books Post Office Box 9870 Phoenix, Arizona 85068-9870 exploration and development of uranium, but hopes were quickly, if only briefly, dashed by the federal government's ban on the sale of any uranium-producing public lands. The action by President Truman was viewed by rural Utahns with the same hostility that most federal land management policies inspire today. PRINTS I tell the truth and they think it’s hell. Out-of-print, rare, and new books, documents, ephemera relating to Grand Canyon, Colorado River, and Colorado Plateau, including: during the head-ofthe-family’s traditional two week vacation." int bY Mitchell Me’ ich of carnotite ores will doubtless be very active in southeastern Utah in the years to come." And the citizens of Moab looked ahead to a very fanciful post-war world. In the summer of 1945, the T-I reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Average American of the post-war years will find themselves living in a world full of comforts, conveniences and gadgets that, at present day view, have a decidedly Jules Verne flavor...They may own a home that was erected from the ground up in eight hours and is just as stable as one which before the war required six months to build. When vacation time rolls around they may fly to Cairo or down to Buenos Aires for the week-end. Or they may even make an around the world trip MI Adv. Toa "Carnotite has long been shipped from Grand and San Juan Counties in Utah. From the stories of the power of the atomic bomb and the new discovery of breaking down uranium eee ete ae Let's _ clarified, it is admitted by scientists that one of the basic elements, uranium, comes from southeastern Utah and Western Colorado. WHAT DO WE DO? We write custom software for the big people and the little...OK:..We take that real big file cabinet full of paper and put it w "I don't give ‘em hell... ¢ connection to that distant Japanese city. The T-I reported, "As the news of the atomic bomb, which startled the world last week and hastened the surrender of Japan becomes more with its vast potentialities for peacetime industry, oa "Give ‘em hell, Harry!" . Ssarcan congress. We S* Witsoo, part bY rons fa, ag oe ot wat ce ree eve Colonel Paul At 9:15 AM, of Hiroshima. Within moments of detonation, 60,175 of its population of 344,000 were killed. Four square miles of the city were vaporized. 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