GRAND COUNTY, UTAH A Brief History of Grand County
Grand County is situated on the Colorado Plateau eastern Utah. The plateau includes two-thirds of the state of
Utah and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Composed mostly of sandstone and limestone, the
plateau has been eroded by large rivers and other water sources into huge canyons and complex erosional forms
that make it a rugged but scenically spectacular region.
Much of the Colorado Plateau in prehistoric times was inhabited by the Anasazi (Navajo for the Ancient Ones).
First arriving perhaps as early as the time of Christ, the Anasazi had disappeared by A.D. 1300, probably due to
years of drought. Today the remains of their cliff houses and rock art in the canyons delight explorers. A
petroglyph of a mammoth or mastodon on a canyon wall west of Moab suggests occupation by Early Man.
The first attempt by Mormon colonists to settle the Moab area was a failure. The Elk Mountain Mission reached
Moab Valley in 1855 and established a small community, but the Indians who were already farming the fertile
Colorado River bottoms regarded them as competition and drove them out after they had been there only a few
weeks.
The first people to settle in the fertile Spanish Valley, named after the “Old Spanish Trail” which ran through it,
were the Mormon Pioneers in 1877. These early settlers, coming in from the north, encountered the deep
canyon walls of the Grand River (officially renamed the Colorado River in May, 1921) and were unable to take
wagons over, or around, the steep canyon walls. They unloaded their supplies, took their wagons apart, and
lowered them by rope over the ledge one piece at a time. They then drove their oxen over a high, rocky canyon
rim and lead them down deep sand dunes to the wagon parts. After the wagons were reassembled and supplies
reloaded, they made their way through sand almost one foot deep until they came to the river. They then had to
find a place that was free of quicksand, yet shallow enough to permit them to cross this large and treacherous
river. This crossing was made below the present river bridge and it is where settlers later put in a ferry, which
served as the only means across the river, until a bridge was built in 1911.
In 1881, the area was known as Grand Valley and early on Moab had a “wild west” reputation. A prospector
who visited Moab in 1891 reported that it was known as the toughest town in Utah because the area and
surrounding country has many deep canyons, rivers, mountains and wilderness areas. It became a favorite
hideout for many outlaw gangs. Among the most infamous of outlaws to hide out in the area were Butch
Cassidy and the Wild Bunch.
In 1881 construction also began on the first school in Grand County. It was a rough hewn log cabin, with a log
and willow roof. In the winter a pot-bellied stove served as the only heat. By 1890, Moab had two schools and
1896 a high school was built. In 1998 when the new high school was built, the middle school was moved to the
old high school building and the middle school was eventually remodeled to house the Moab City Offices. In
2010, Moab’s two grade schools were replaced by one new grade school for K-6th grades and new vocational
center was built adjacent to the high school.
ECONOMY
The fruit growing industry began about 1879 when Mrs. A. G. Wilson, one of the early Mormon settlers,
planted some peach pits that she had brought west with her. By 1910 Moab was producing some of the biggest
and best fruit in the west. Today, melons, peaches, grapes, apples and pears grow in abundance.
Oil exploration in the 1920’s led to the development of the Moab Oil Field. Riches from the black gold failed
to materialize, but oil exploration was continued and has contributed significantly to the local economy.
In 1949 John Ford discovered Grand County’s magnificent and diversified scenery, which he used as settings
for some of his great western movie classics. Moab has continued its romance with Hollywood for five
decades, hosting some of the greatest directors and stars of the cinema.
Discovery of uranium in 1952 began an era of mineral extraction in the county, swelling the population from 3,
000 to nearly 10,000 residents in just 3 years. Mining and milling of Uranium, Potash and salt added to the
local economy until 1983 when the market for uranium dropped. Most mining and milling operations ceased at
that time although oil & gas exploration continued at various levels through the next three decades to present
time.
Most recently the income from tourism has been the county's major economic resource. Arches National
Monument was established in 1929, and consistently increasing numbers of visitors led to its upgrading to
National Park status in 1971.
During the 1970s and 1980s Moab became perhaps the most important center for river running, mountainbicycling, and four-wheel drive recreation in Utah. In 2010, Arches National Park hit the 1 million visitor mark
for the first time in its history. Moab’s unique combination of beautiful red rock scenery, two national parks,
and the cool waters of the Colorado River has made it one of the most sought after destinations in the
southwest.
People who visit the red rock country often ask how Grand County and Moab got their names. The county was
named after the then named “Grand River” (Colorado River) that flows through its heart. The Ute Indian tribe
called the green oasis, “Mohapa” meaning mosquito water. Moab, the only Utah town located on the Colorado
River, was also subsequently known to Anglo settlers as “Elk Mountain Mission”, “Mormon Fort” and “Grand
Valley”. It is to William Pierce that credit is given for suggesting “Moab” as a name for the frontier outpost.
Grand County Statistics: (Based on 2000 Census)
Year formed:
County Seat:
Largest City:
Percent of Utah’s Total Population:
Square Miles:
Area Covered by Water:
1890
Moab
Moab
0.35%
3,682
0.34%
Population:
People per Square Mile:
Number of Households:
Number of families:
Per capita Income:
Percent of residents living
Below the poverty line:
8,611
2
3,434
2,170
$17,356
14.8%
Grand County was formed from part of Emery County and legally became Grand County on March 13, 1890.
Moab became an incorporated City in 1902, but was not recognized by the State of Utah as such until 1937
when it had grown to a population 800.
GRAND COUNTY VS UTAH QUICK FACTS From the US Census Bureau:
People Quick Facts
Population, 2009 estimate
Population, percent change, April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009
Population estimates base (April 1) 2000
Persons under 5 years old, percent, 2009
Persons under 18 years old, percent, 2009
Persons 65 years old and over, percent, 2009
Female persons, percent, 2009
White persons, percent, 2009 (a)
Black persons, percent, 2009 (a)
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2009 (a)
Asian persons, percent, 2009 (a)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2009 (a)
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2009
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2009 (b)
White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2009
Living in same house in 1995 and 2000, pct 5 yrs old & over
Foreign born persons, percent, 2000
Language other than English spoken at home, pct age 5+, 2000
High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000
Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000
Persons with a disability, age 5+, 2000
Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2000
Housing units, 2009
Homeownership rate, 2000
Housing units in multi-unit structures, percent, 2000
Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000
Households, 2000
Persons per household, 2000
Median household income, 2008
Per capita money income, 1999
Persons below poverty level, percent, 2008
Grand County
9,660
15.3%
8,380
6.5%
23.0%
13.3%
50.3%
92.8%
0.3%
5.4%
0.2%
0.1%
1.2%
7.7%
85.5%
51.2%
3.0%
8.7%
82.5%
22.9%
1,488
15.0
4,690
71.0%
9.6%
$112,700
3,434
2.44
$38,540
$17,356
14.2%
Utah
2,784,572
24.7%
2,233,204
9.8%
31.2%
9.0%
49.7%
92.7%
1.4%
1.4%
2.1%
0.8%
1.7%
12.3%
81.2%
49.3%
7.1%
12.5%
87.7%
26.1%
298,686
21.3
952,830
71.5%
22.0%
$146,100
701,281
3.13
$56,820
$18,185
9.7%
Business Quick Facts
Private nonfarm establishments, 2007
Private nonfarm employment, 2007
Private nonfarm employment, percent change 2000-2007
Nonemployer establishments, 2007
Total number of firms, 2002
Black-owned firms, percent, 2002
American Indian and Alaska Native owned firms, percent, 2002
Asian-owned firms, percent, 2002
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander owned firms, percent, 2002
Hispanic-owned firms, percent, 2002
Women-owned firms, percent, 2002
Manufacturers’ shipments, 2002 ($1000)
Wholesale trade sales, 2002 ($1000)
Retail sales, 2002 ($1000)
Retail sales per capita, 2002
Accommodation and foodservices sales, 2002 ($1000)
Building permits, 2009
Federal spending, 2008
Geography Quick Facts
Land area, 2000 (square miles)
Persons per square mile, 2000
FIPS Code
Metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area
1: Includes data not distributed by county.
(a) Includes persons reporting only one race.
(b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories.
Grand County
451
3,541
24.8%
969
1,120
F
F
F
F
F
27.4%
NA
13,537
88,307
$10,221
43,724
44
85,876
Utah
71,8801
1,102,8211
20.3%1
188,841
193,003
0.3%
0.6%
1.5%
0.2%
2.7%
25.1%
25,104,045
22,905,100
23,675,432
$10,206
2,984,632
9,982
17,117,1881
3,681.56
2.3
019
None
82,143.65
27.2
49
GRAND COUNTY MINING The following excerpts were taken from an article by Elizabeth Pope which appeared in McCall’s Magazine in December, 1956. It is a reflection of the times, the town, and its people during the 1950’s boom. “The red buttes and mesas around Moab produce 95% of the uranium ore. Uranium, in its purest state, is
worth 35 times as much as gold. Four years ago (1952) Moab was a sleepy farming village 35 miles from
a railroad and 135 miles from a recognized airport. Today (1956) Moab is the uranium capitol of the
world.
The story begins one July day in 1953, when a wildly screaming prospector came running across the
desert up the yard of trailer home. His wife heard him yelling and came to the door in time to see him
charge through her clothes line and stand there shrieking her name, not bothering to pick up the ruined
wash. At first the woman was angry, and then she was scared. Her husband was a quiet man. Maybe
after all those months the desert sun and the constant disappointments had been too much for him.
The man’s name was Charlie Steen, a geologist from Texas, who for two heartbreaking years had been
searching the Moab desert for the massive deposits of uranium ore he was sure were there. The strike he
had just made, which cost his wife a week’s wash, is now valued upwards of $100 million and has
become one of the richest mines on the continent. Steen’s strike had come just in time. That morning his
borrowed drill had broken down, and Steen with his equipment worn out, money gone, credit exhausted,
family in rags, had decided to give up the struggle. But because he was a stubborn man, he had borrowed
a Geiger counter to test the core from his last drilling. At a depth of 173 feet, the Geiger counter went
mad. Charlie Steen was a Millionaire.
In the three years since his strike, Moab has become a city of Millionaires. At its brand new Uranium
Club, housed in a hideous concrete fortress on the edge of town, members can name at least 20 other luck
townspeople who were worth a million or were within easy reach of it.” By the early 1960s, the boom had
died out, only to resurface when additional uranium deposits were located just north of the Mi Vida site.
This second boom lasted until the mid-1960s, and then tapered off. However, just as uranium died out,
mining operations began in 1965 in one of the largest potash deposits in the world (on the Colorado River
between Moab and Dead Horse Point), and work continues there today. Mining has long been important
to Moab, which lies within a unique geological formation called the Paradox Salt Basin. This basin has
various accumulations of valuable minerals relatively near the surface. Uranium was mined in the nearby
La Sal Mountains as early as the 19th century. The famous scientist Marie Curie, who discovered the
element radium in uranium ore in 1898, visited the Moab area herself in 1899 and inspected a uranium
processing plant that French scientists had set up near the Dolores River in southwestern Colorado.
Other valuable materials mined in the Moab area over the years include vanadium (used in steel
processing), lead, gold, copper, and silver, along with helium, natural gas, and oil. Mining towns such as
Castleton sprung up all over the La Sals and the Utah-Colorado border during the first three decades of
the 1900s, only to become ghost towns in the years thereafter.
But it was Steen’s Mi Vida strike that made Moab a nationwide household name. This is a distinction that
Moab still enjoys, although the uranium era has long since ended. Today, Moab’s economy thrives on a
boom of a different kind—that of tourism.
GRAND COUNTY GHOST TOWNS AND PAST COMMUNITIES During the 1890’s, the area now known as Grand County was dotted with many small villages
and communities. Other then Moab, only two cities remain, “Cisco” and “Thompson”.
One of the first towns in the area was called "Plainsfield". It probably would have become a part
of Moab, but it was just inside the San Juan county line. Little is left as evidence of its existence.
East from Moab, on Wilson Mesa in the La Sal Mountains, was the little village called “Mesa”.
The town of “Pin hook”, also in the La Sal Mountains, was a tent village. On June 15, 1881, a
bloody battle was fought between the village and a hostile band of Indians. Eight white men
were buried at the site in one large grave. A historical marker has been erected on this spot.
Up the Colorado River road (Highway 128) from Moab was the community of “Castleton”,
which once vied with Moab for the county seat. This was a small mining town of over 100
people in the early 1890’s and was the hub of activity for ranches and other small villages in the
area. Little remains today of the town that once boasted two saloons, one hotel, two grocery
stores, a post office and a school.
“Miners Basin”, which was up the road from Castleton, had a small population of miners. These
men, during the 1890’s, found rich veins of gold, copper and silver. Up the river from Moab was
the town of “Dewey”, which was known most recently by the old cable suspension bridge built
in 1916 across the Colorado River. After a new Dewey Bridge was built in 1987, the old bridge
was restored for foot traffic until 2008, when it was tragically burned down in a fire caused by a
child playing with matches while camping at a nearby campground. As of 2010, funds were still
being raised in hope of restoring the bridge once again.
Near the Colorado border, in the vicinity of Dewey, were the communities known as “Picture
Gallery”, “Cisco” and “Westwater”. West of Cisco in the Cisco Desert, “Harley Dome”,
“Danish Flat”, “Agate” and “Crystal Carbon” were towns that sprang up as a result of the
railroad.
North of Thompson was the coal community of “Sego”. Just north of Moab, along the highway,
was a town called “Valley City”. In western Grand County, along the east bank of the Green
River, was the farming community of “Elgin”, which was well known for the many acres of
locally grown peaches.
Not much remains of these old towns and communities today, so only history is left to tell their
tales.
WHAT MAKES THE ROCKS RED? What makes the rocks red, green or blue? Would you believe iron? That question is one of the
most commonly asked by travelers in the colorful Four Corners country and believe it or not, the
answer is iron. It would seem more logical if iron made the rocks red, copper made them green,
and cobalt made them blue. But surprisingly enough, iron produces those colors and all the
gradations in between.
The de Chelly sandstone buttes of Monument Valley and the great red walls around Moab are
composed of tiny sand grains cemented together and stained with the oxidized iron or hematite.
Occasionally one might notice where a plant root has grown into red clay stone and the root is
surrounded by a few inches of light green clay. This light bleached zone results from the mile
plant acids reducing the oxidized red clay coloring. This is just another step in the continuous
process of chemical weathering and erosion.
The typical monuments of Fisher Towers, near Moab, Monument Valley and the Valley of the
Gods consist of horizontal beds of massive, relatively softer sandstone. The softer sandstones
form the talus-covered slopes beneath the vertical walls of the sandstone.
Try to picture the entire region covered with these horizontal sedimentary layers and then came
the rivers with their attendant side canyons and smaller washes. These canyons steadily but
slowly, increase their length by eroding forward. This erosion proceeds logically by dissolving
and washing away the clay stone, removing the support of the massive overlying sandstone.
This creates alcoves or arch-like caves. A network of canyons gradually dissects the barren
expanse of sandstone, which might be many miles across. The canyons widen out until they
gradually become broad valleys.
All the erosive forces continue changing the face of the earth so that it is never really finished.
What we see are in reality just a couple of frames out of a very long motion picture. Earlier in
the movie there were no monuments; now there are mesas, monuments, towers and arches; later
in the picture they will be gone also.
HOW ARE ARCHES CREATED? The Arches National park lies atop an underground evaporite layer or salt bed, which is the main
cause of the formation of the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths
in the area. This salt bed is thousands of feet thick in places, and was deposited in the Paradox
Basin of the Colorado Plateau some 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and
eventually evaporated. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from
the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast.
During the Early Jurassic (about 210 Ma) desert conditions prevailed in the region and the vast
Navajo Sandstone was deposited. An additional sequence of stream laid and windblown
sediments, the Entrada Sandstone (about 140 Ma), was deposited on top of the Navajo. Over
5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and have been mostly eroded away.
Remnants of the cover exist in the area including exposures of the Cretaceous Mancos Shale.
The arches of the area are developed mostly within the Entrada formation.
The weight of this cover caused the salt bed below it to liquefy and thrust up layers of rock into
salt domes. The evaporites of the area formed more unusual salt anticlines or linear regions of
uplift. Faulting occurred and whole sections of rock subsided into the areas between the domes.
In some places, they turned almost on edge. The result of one such 2,500-foot (760 m)
displacement, the Moab Fault, is seen from the visitor center.
As this subsurface movement of salt shaped the landscape, erosion removed the younger rock
layers from the surface. Except for isolated remnants, the major formations visible in the park
today are the salmon-colored Entrada Stone, in which most of the arches form, and the buffcolored Navajo Sandstone. These are visible in layer cake fashion throughout most of the park.
Over time, water seeped into the surface cracks, joints, and folds of these layers. Ice formed in
the fissures, expanding and putting pressure on surrounding rock, breaking off bits and pieces.
Winds later cleaned out the loose particles. A series of free-standing fins remained.
Wind and water attacked these fins until, in some, the cementing material gave way and chunks
of rock tumbled out. Many damaged fins collapsed. Others, with the right degree of hardness
and balance, survived despite their missing sections. These became the famous arches.
Just as nature made the arches, nature also takes them back. Over the past few decades, there
have been numerous arches that have succumbed to this fate. Since 1991, three slabs of
sandstone measuring 30, 47, and 70 feet (9.1, 14, and 21 m) long have fallen from the thinnest
section of Landscape Arch, forcing the Park Service to close the trail that once passed beneath it.
In 2008, Wall Arch, long a key attraction along the park's Devils Garden Trail, collapsed
sometime overnight August 4.