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Hot Rocks Make Big Waves: The Impact of the Uranium Boom on Moab, Utah , 1948-57
Hot Rocks Make Big Waves: The Impact of the Uranium Boom on Moab, Utah, 1948-57
By AMBERLY KNIGHT
The red rock landscape of southeastern Utah, dotted with olivegreen vegetation, draws tourists, hikers, and mountain bikers from all corners of the world. Currently, business is booming in the small town of Moab, the gateway to two national parks and one state park. New tourist shops crowd Main Street, and motels pop up at an astonishing rate. A similar boom occurred more than four decades ago, but instead of being driven by the hot pockets of sightseers, it was fueled by the hot rocks of the earth, uranium. The uranium boom in Moab in the 1950s was both a boon and a bane to townspeople. The industry drew thousands of newcomers, causing enormous strains on public utilities and community services. However, it "was also a catalyst that prompted major improvements in Moab's infrastructure and economy.
When Brigham Young sent groups of men to explore the area in the early 1850s, one of them reported that it was "[g]ood for nothing except to hold the world together." 1 Although it seemed an inhospitable country, in 1855 the LDS church first sent settlers there to farm, raise cattle, and establish a settlement. During the next ninety years the population of Moab grew to around 1,000 people who eked out a living mainly through agriculture and ranching.
By 1910, amateur prospectors had begun to search the hills for treasures of the earth. They found coal, oil, uranium, vanadium, radium, and even some gold. Most of these ventures were not very lucrative because other areas of the world, such as Brazil and Peru, were supplying the minerals more economically than was possible for a tiny western town in the United States. Additionally, most of the minerals near Moab were not very valuable. Uranium, for example, "was used only as a yellow pigment for paint. 2
However, after World War II the United States government worked frantically to develop, produce, and stockpile atomic weapons. Because uranium was essential for these weapons, its value skyrocketed at the end of the 1940s. In order to procure this newly popular metal, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began to offer huge incentives to uranium miners. In 1948 the AEC offered, in addition to the $2.00 per pound base rate, $10,000 to the first prospector to provide twenty tons of 0.2 percent ore. 3
Although the AEC announced its uranium-buying program in 1948, there was no appreciable impact on Moab for about four years. In many cases, miners could not get the ore to a town because of poor roads. Even if they were able to make it to Monticello, the first uranium processing center in the area, local samplers and mills were inadequate. The Times- Independent, Moab's weekly newspaper, announced in July 1948 that out of 800 tons of ore that had been delivered, only sixty tons had been sampled (to determine uranium content). 4 The miners were not paid until the ore was sampled.
Miners also had difficulty locating ore. It was often buried deep beneath layers of sedimentary rock. In order to assist the miners, the 7\EC initiated an exploration and research program and hired workers who, in three years, completed 500,000 feet of drilling. However, miners led by Howard Balsley, a local citizen, complained that most of the drilling was done for large, established mining companies and did not help the independent miner. When the uranium was buried deep in the earth, the price paid for the ore was not high enough to produce a profit for independent miners. Walt Gramlich, who had mined several minerals in the Moab area since 1912, complained in the Times-Independent, "Prices being paid by the AEC through private corporations are inadequate to provide for any development of ore reserves outside of shallow beds." 5 Eventually, the government heard the pleas of the mining community and in March 1951 provided a shot in the arm. Prices for the lowest grade of ore, 0.1 percent, went from fifty cents to $1.50 per pound—an increase of 300 percent. The highest grade of ore, 0.2 percent and higher, increased from $2.00 to $3.50 per pound. 6
Although rising prices attracted some new miners, the real boost to the industry in Moab came when Charlie Steen, an impoverished geology professor, discovered an ore bed worth more than $60 million. His rags-to-riches story was published in newspapers all over the nation, and in late 1952 newcomers, eager to capture their share of the wealth, began pouring into Moab. As miners and support workers flocked to Moab, the AEC, a true bureaucracy, made improvements at a snail-like pace. The government put a uranium sampling plant in Moab in February 1955, but miners still had to haul their ore to Monticello, Utah, or Grand Junction, Colorado, to a processing mill. In June 1955 Steen used some of the profits from his mining company, UTEX, to build an $8 million mill only a mile from Moab. Its capacity was double that of any other mill on the Colorado Plateau. 7
Throughout the boom, population growth far exceeded city leaders' most liberal estimates. The federal census recorded Moab's population in 1940 as 1,084. In 1950 the Times-Independent declared, "A substantial increase in the population of Moab doubtless will be shown by the 17th decentennial [sic] census.... Although final figures cannot be given out at this time there is reason to believe...[that the population will] exceed 1,200." This statement implies that citizens felt that an 11 percent population increase was a great change for the community. But after two official counts, census takers actually announced the final figure as 1,903—almost double the population often years before. The growth reflects the extensive in-migration of prospectors with grand dreams and of workers who came to support the dreamers. No one imagined that in the next decade the population would triple! In 1960, of the 6,345 people in Moab, only 1,102 reported living in the same house they had occupied in 1954, and only 2,377 reported that they had been born in Utah. 8
Not all move-ins -were miners. For example, a man known only as Frenchie, a hot dog vendor in Chicago, saw Charlie Steen's story of instant "wealth in the newspaper, sold his hot dog stand, and used the money to buy a bus ticket to Moab. Immediately after arriving late one Saturday night, he asked a local service station owner where he could sell hot dogs. The man replied that Frenchie might want to try to go to the American Legion, where miners gathered every "weekend. Frenchie went to Miller's Co-op and bought some buns and hot dogs on credit. He sold out that night and stayed in Moab for the rest of his life. 9 Like Frenchie, other businessmen, construction workers, and professionals came to Moab to offer their services.
One businessman who came to Moab at the beginning of the boom was Pete Byrd, a former bomber pilot in the South Pacific during World War II. Byrd learned of the opportunities in Moab directly from Charlie Steen, his old college roommate. He moved to Moab in early 1953 and set up his own charter flight business, Byrd Aviation. When he first came to Moab, he noted that there "were horses, cows, chickens, and outhouses on every block and only one paved road. Over the next ten years, he witnessed huge changes as the small town developed the infrastructure capable of supporting the growing population. 10
In 1955 Archie M. Swenson, Moab chief of police, summarized the developments of the town when he said, "Most of us are aware by now that the 'city of the Red Rock Country' is no longer the quiet little cowtown of yesteryear. Once the crossroads of cattle trails, it is now a throbbing thruway for tourists, and of late an artery of the uranium country." 11 The dramatic changes in Moab's population, economy, and demography caused by the uranium mining industry called for vast alterations in Moab's infrastructure. Housing, water supply and sewer facilities, phone lines, schools, and medical facilities—all these needs and more were the challenges brought to this tiny community as the need for uranium made its sudden and far-reaching impact.
"Housing is Moab's number one problem," the Times-Independent proclaimed in 1955. Bill McDougall, a geologist who later served on the city council and as Moab's mayor, recalled that "People lived all over the place. Every space in town was used. Trailers were scattered all over." Often homeowners rented out their backyards as places to park trailers, allowing tenants to use their personal water and sewer facilities. However, in February 1954 the city council passed an ordinance stating that any trailer used as a residence must be connected to the sewer immediately. 12 One month later, the council defined a trailer court as more than two trailers on a property and mandated that anyone operating a trailer court apply for a city license. 13
The housing shortage quickly developed into a crisis. In January 1955 the U.S. Labor Department reported on a survey of Moab residents to determine exact housing needs. Although the survey was administered in the winter and many citizens complained that it would be outdated when good weather came and new companies moved in, the results still reflected dire circumstances. For example, the survey determined that at least 4,294 people, comprising 865 families, lived in Moab. Of those families, 534 reported that they had moved to Moab within the last year. In addition, 426 felt that they were not "adequately" housed, and 608 of the families wanted a new home. 14
Because of the housing shortage, many families lived in hotel rooms, trailers, tents, or even in their cars. June Stilson, a Moab resident, commented that the banks of Mill Creek looked very similar to the way they do now in the summer, when many tourists and mountain bikers camp along it. Sam and Raymond Taylor described the situation in their book Uranium Fever.
Bill McDougall noted that mobile homes did more than any other solution to alleviate the housing crisis. Even when people had the money to buy a house, they often could not find one for sale. 15 At one time, Moab had more mobile homes than houses. Because of this, today there are many mobile homes in areas zoned only for houses.
When Steen built his uranium processing plant in Moab, he also developed a subdivision north of Main Street, right beneath his house high on the hill. However, a person could not buy a house there unless he was a Steen employee—hence the area's nickname, Steenville.16 Sometimes developers planned subdivisions but could not get building permits because of the lack of sewer and water facilities. In April 1954 Moab hired a city planner, Dale Despain, to provide technical direction for the struggling community. 17
Lack of housing affected employment. The unemployment rate was very low, but because of the housing shortage many potential workers would not move to Moab. Helen M. Knight, the school superintendent, reported that for the 1955-56 school year, eight new teachers would have signed contracts but did not because they could not find reasonable rent. 18 At one point, housing costs were second highest in the state. The Times-Independent advertised labor shortages in the Moab area but -warned those seeking work to find living quarters before moving into the area. 19 Congressman Henry A. Dixon (R- Utah), proposed involving insurance companies and banks in providing low-interest funds to developers and future homeowners. His ideas were well received by First Security Bank president George Eccles, who helped finance many loans for citizens of Moab. 20
In order to continue approving housing developments, city leaders had to provide adequatesewage facilities and water services. In January 1955 the city council determined that the water supply was critically low. It was winter, and the city was barely keeping up with demands. "What will happen," asked Fred Dalmus, the city water commissioner, "when the summer comes, and the water flow decreases, and water demands increase?" The council determined that "funds must be obtained in some way to take care of [the problem], necessitated by unprecedented growth of Moab and any possibility for securing additional revenue will be looked into." In the city council meeting at the end of the month, the situation appeared even more severe. Dalmus repeated his fears that citizens would not be able to water their gardens or lawns during the summer. And by July the city was in a crisis. The city instituted a complete ban on lawn sprinkling. One of the drive-in theaters had to shut down because it did not have enough water to operate its water-cooled projectors. During two evenings, many areas of town were completely out of water. 21
Ralph Miller owned Miller's Co-op, a grocery and dry goods store. He was also a city councilman when new sewer and water fees were approved. Some of his best customers and friends, angry about the higher rates, stopped patronizing his store. Miller decided that politics and business did not go well together, so instead he fulfilled his civic duty by becoming a volunteer firefighter. Miller remembered that often during the summer of '55, firemen would get to a fire and turn on the hose, but nothing would come out. Pete Byrd recalled that when the fire siren went off, everyone in town knew that they needed to turn off their faucets immediately. Since fire insurance rates are based on fire fighting capabilities, insurance in Moab was quite expensive during the water shortage. 22
Citizens dealt with the water crisis in different ways. Bill McDougall, also a member of the city council, explained that the situation was not caused by a lack of water but by a lack of water mains and storage tanks that could deliver water to the people. He had a neighbor with a well, and during the most severe part of the crisis he paid his neighbor to pump water so he could water his lawn. Adrien Taylor, daughter of Ellis Foote, the city manager, said that she and her family would often take buckets to the river to draw their own water. Miller recalled similar solutions: "Sometimes people couldn't get a drink, or wash, and so they would go to one of the springs with jugs and buckets and get water by hand." 23
The sewer system was also inadequate. According to a Times-Independent editorial, the sewer was already servicing two thousand more people than it had originally been designed for. Sheriff John Stocks was particularly worried about possible epidemics, especially polio. He mandated that all trailers and temporary housing install toilet facilities by spring 1955. 24 Adrien Taylor noted that during the next summer the sewer was overloaded and often backed up until the city ran out of water; soon the sewer problems disappeared.
Concerned about community growth in 1951, the mayor and city council had approved plans for a $150,000 project to expand water and sewer infrastructure. The plans included construction of a 250,000-gallon storage reservoir, extension of water mains and sewer lines, and construction of a new community septic tank. 25 The city voted to finance the improvements by issuing bonds. City engineer Win Templeton believed that these improvements, which would provide for 5,000 citizens, would be more than adequate for Moab. But he underestimated growth, and within five years the system was inadequate. By 1955, the VA and FHA refused to provide further monetary commitments for housing until sewer and water facilities became available. 26 In June 1955 Moab received a $198,000 grant from the federal government, which provided enough money to extend water and sewer mains but not to expand treatment plants or construct additional reservoirs. 27
Next to housing, sewer, and water, phone communication was Moab's biggest problem. In 1949 two circuits connected Moab with the rest of the world; the AEC office in Grand Junction dominated those circuits much of the time. The local telephone company, operated by J. W Corbin, announced improvements on telephone lines in March 1950. Corbin, who justified the expense by noting the crowded existing facilities, added a completely new dialing system. However, like other improvements made in the early years of the boom, the dialing system was soon outdated, and within a month the telephone company received complaints. Because of party lines and people who made lengthy calls, many customers had limited access to phone service. In August 1950 Midland Telephone issued an ultimatum. Unless customers cooperated, the company would switch on an automatic cut-off feature that would terminate any call after ten minutes. 28
The lack of local and long distance phone lines was particularly problematic for businesses. Ralph Miller, owner of Miller's Co-op, often needed to call Salt Lake City to place wholesale orders. Many times he waited for eight or nine hours to place a call. Pete Byrd operated his aviation business from the airport located ten miles from Moab. He shared his phone line with ten other parties, and customers who tried to call to charter flights often reached only a busy signal. 29
By 1955 Moab's new dialing system was completely inadequate. Because of the phenomenal growth, general manager Corbin, who by this time was also the mayor, moved the outdated equipment to Dove Creek, Colorado, and installed a much more extensive system for Moab. Mayor Corbin explained that the telephone company had planned for growth, but "Moab got a lot bigger faster than [we] figured." 30 The new system handled 2,400 calls in twenty-four hours—a great improvement over the previous 600- call carrier. However, the updated system still could not satisfy demand.
Also during 1955, Intermountain Bell, the long distance provider, spent $200,000 to install new circuits in Moab. The company had three operators -working sixteen hours a day just to assist with toll calls, and customers placed an average of 700 long distance calls daily. Because there were only five outside lines, many customers waited constantly for a line to be cleared. People -who wanted to make long distance calls put their names on a "waiting list. Sometimes it was several days before their turn came and the call could go through. At other times, people would simply line up at the telephone office. Because the wait could take all day, men "would take turns sitting in line for each other while others patronized the Wagon Wheel Bar next door. Another commonly employed option was to charter a flight to Grand Junction, use the pay phone in the Grand Junction terminal, and then return to Moab. But the surest way to place a call was to be friends -with the Corbins—especially Mrs. Ida Corbin. McDougall remembered that if you knew Ida you could get your phone call placed before all the "Texans and foreigners" could. 31
Sometimes the lack of phone lines affected the entire community. For example, on June 15, 1955, two power lines went down, causing a blackout throughout the town. A man on his way out of town saw the lines short out. He continued on to Green River, fifty miles from Moab. While workers searched for the missing link, the man tried to call to report the location. But he could not get a telephone call through, and he finally drove back to Moab to report it. Power was out for more than ten hours. 32
Miners and workers who came to Moab seeking their fortunes often brought their families. The county tried desperately to provide adequate education for the new children. In 1950 Moab's schools served 300 students. At the beginning of the boom, one school housed grades K-12, and it quickly became overcrowded. Construction began on a new elementary school in 1951. In order to provide room for all the students, the school board initiated double sessions. Half the students attended from 8:30 to noon, while the other half attended from 12:30 to 4:30. 33
As the new school neared completion in 1953, the school board realized that it too would be inadequate, especially if the population continued to increase. Charlie Steen donated a plot of land for a new site, and the district began construction of a second elementary school. 34 Students attended double sessions until the second school was completed.
At the beginning of 1955, school superintendent Helen M. Knight addressed the overcrowding problem in the Times-Independent. First, she argued that the school lunch program was not adequate and requested that all students who lived within six blocks of the school walk home for lunch. She also announced that as soon as furniture was available a new high school would be set up in the basement of the LDS church. New classes, including economics, sociology, and anthropology, would be added to the curriculum. 35
In February the second grade moved to another church building, and the students attended in shifts. By July of that year, 241 new pupils had arrived in Moab. Superintendent Knight announced, "The heavy influx of new students has made the great increase in the budget needed. Even with the elementary school being added this year, double sessions will have to be held until another building can be added." By October, the schools had again been forced to implement double sessions, which ran from 7:30 to 12:30 and from 1:00 to 6:00. The split sessions created two problems, according to Pete Byrd. First, half the kids were going to school in the dark, and the other half were coming home in the dark. Second, since some of the kids were always out of school "running up and down the streets," it was easier for truants to avoid being caught. However, store owner Miller benefited from the double sessions. Because the high school students went to school in the morning, he was able to hire teenage boys to work in the afternoons stocking shelves, carrying out groceries, and unloading merchandise. Often, the boys had to carry groceries more than two blocks because the streets were so crowded that patrons could not find a closer parking space. 36
In order to plan for the 1955-56 school year, the elementary school held early registration in August. Six hundred children registered, 75 percent of whom were from families connected with the uranium industry. School officials estimated that these 600 early enrollees represented 70 percent of the total student population. However, enrollment that year actually reached 1,215 students—150 percent of what they had estimated. This figure is especially significant in light of the fact that just seven years earlier the entire population of Moab had been less than 1,200. Many of the children were from very transient families, some of whom lived in cars or tents with no running water or electricity. For this reason, the school district employed full-time janitors to keep restrooms and showers in the locker rooms sanitary. 37
As in other areas of concern, community support alleviated many problems. The PTA was particularly active during this time. In 1954 they organized a New Year's Eve dance in a garage and made enough money to buy fifty additional desks. They furnished three classrooms and donated $1,000 to the furniture fund. 38
In addition to housing, sanitation, communication, and education, Moab needed improved medical facilities and medical service providers, both to assist those who had accidents in the dangerous mines and to provide basic medical care for the burgeoning population. From 1919 until 1954, Moab had only one physician, Dr. I. W. Allen. But in 1954 three new doctors moved into town: E. E. Hinckley, an ear, nose, and throat specialist; D. Lowrey Smith; and Winston Ekron, who relocated from North Dakota. Jay Munsey joined the group in 1955, and Paul Mayberry arrived from Texas in 1956. 39
In the twenty-three years he lived there, Dr. Mayberry became somewhat of a legend in Moab. He was kind, generous, and charming, and he was regarded as an outstanding surgeon. Although he "was drawn to Moab because of the opportunities presented by the uranium, he became an integral part of the community. Moab residents felt that he cared about the community and those he treated. One miner, Nate Knight, broke his neck in 1960 while working in a mine. He was paralyzed from his neck down until his death in 1987. After his accident, Dr. Mayberry visited him often but never charged the family for his services. He also was instrumental in helping Knight's wife, Peggy, receive compensation from the government as Nate's caregiver. Just before he died of cancer in 1979 he said to his wife, "Mary, you could have been a wealthy woman—if I hadn't given it all away." The town practically shut down to attend his funeral. 40
As early as 1950, citizens recognized the need for a new hospital. State inspectors announced that the existing hospital, built in 1920, had inadequate heating facilities and too many fire hazards. In 1954 city officials opened a bank account to gather funds for the new hospital, announcing, "With the rapid increase in population, the need for a larger and better equipped hospital becomes more and more apparent." The hospital was expected to cost $650,000, but the Hill-Burton Act provided a grant from the federal government covering 45 percent of the total cost. Citizens passed a bond issue for $225,000 in November 1954. Cecil Thomson, the head of the Moab Chamber of Commerce hospital fundraising committee, sold a 4.5-acre site to the county for one dollar and led citizens in raising more than $100,000. When the state-of-the-art facility officially opened on January 17, 1957, it was named the I.W. Allen Memorial Hospital to commemorate Allen's thirty-five years of dedicated service as Moab's only doctor. Allen Memorial still serves as the county's hospital today. 41
As the town grew and improvements continued, civic leaders searched for revenue. According to many citizens, the problem was that Moab was trying to act like a city but only had the income of a village. 42 As the Times-Independent reported, Moab had to provide services for the miners while much of the revenue from mining benefited other areas: "A good part of the extra load has come through the influx of mining interests," but although much of the mining was being done in San Juan County, most of the workers lived in Moab. 43 Total expenditures for Grand County during 1948 as reflected in its published financial statement were $26,000. By 1955, expenditures rose beyond $346,000—a thirteen-fold increase. 44
Newcomers' expectations added to the pressures. Adrien Taylor, who moved into Moab during the boom, noted that many newcomers were from larger towns, and they expected and demanded paved streets, curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. 45 Although the city needed money, city council members were reluctant to raise property taxes because they felt that the longtime residents would be affected more than the miners would be. Additionally, the city council members and county commissioners were mostly business owners and ranchers, and they wanted to protect their own interests as much as possible. Finally, they resorted to a slight tax increase. 46 The council also issued municipal bonds to fund capital improvements. 47
In addition to local revenues, improvements were funded through outside sources: state appropriations, federal grants and loans, and private donations. Utah state government primarily responded to requests for transportation aid. In 1952 the state appropriated $1,250,000 to build the longest bridge in the state at the time—over the Colorado River. E. G. Johnson, the chief engineer of the State Road Commission, related this project directly to the impact of the uranium. He was quoted as saying, "Since the development of uranium deposits in southeastern Utah and the increase in heavy truck hauling on the highways serving the area, the old 16-ton capacity bridge has become increasingly dangerous and inadequate." The state also provided $12,500 in 1952 for improvements to the airport. 48
Moab citizens also petitioned their congressional representatives for federal aid, justifying their requests by saying that because the government needed the uranium it was responsible for the growth and should pay for the improvements. In August 1954 economists from the Housing and Home Finance Agency visited Moab and determined that it was a critical defense area. Based on this, they appropriated $150,000 in 1955 for the development of city water mains and lines and a sewage disposal plant. Later that year the agency provided a $49,000 loan, 49 and in 1957 they provided $156,000 for additional water and sewer improvements. 50 Congress, under the Hill-Burton Act, provided a $250,000 grant for the hospital. In 1955 the federal government gave Moab $54,000 to improve the airport runway. 51 And, through the Hill-Burton Act, the school district received in 1956 and 1957 almost $250,000 to build new schools and to improve the existing ones. These funds were provided under Public Laws 815 and 874, bills that earmarked money for schools in federally impacted areas. 52 Finally, Arches National Monument received almost $2.5 million under the Mission 66 program, which developed and expanded national parks. The money was used to build roads, a visitors' center, and an employee residence and to develop the water and sewer systems in the park. 53
Mining companies and private individuals assisted with some community improvements. Much of the money to build the hospital, including a $25,000 gift from Charlie Steen, was donated by mining companies. Steen also donated land for the new elementary school and churches, and he loaned the city $40,000 to build a pipeline from a spring he had traded for sewer and water connections to his subdivision. And he donated the office building that now houses the school district offices. 54
A great boost to city funds occurred when UTEX, the mining company owned by Charlie Steen, built its uranium processing plant near Moab. According to Pete Byrd, the reason Charlie built the mill in Moab, miles from his mines (costing him millions of dollars in trucking expenses), was so that Moab would have a valuable property to tax. Steen also told his friend that he preferred to live in Moab because "Moab didn't have a lot of laws or police who pushed people around. In Moab people took care of their own problems." 55
This individualistic spirit of town leaders was reflected in the city council minutes. Until 1953 Moab only had had one deputy. Hiring another resulted in some difficulty when a difference of opinion caused friction between the two. They complained to the city council, and the minutes recorded, "It is the opinion of the Council that the two marshals can get along together if they put $ their minds to it." 56
Although the early uranium boom years provided many challenges as leaders tried to develop the infrastructure to support the exploding population, it also provided a base for growth upon which the current economy rests. One of the most positive economic consequences of the uranium boom was its impact on tourism. During the 1950s, miners often staked claims in areas accessible only by helicopter. In their zeal to obtain the precious uranium ore, the AEC and large mining companies paid for roads to be built. These were often not elegant roads built by construction companies but rough roads built by struggling independent miners who used the extra income to make ends meet so they could go back to mining. Between 1952 and 1958 the AEC built 1,200 miles of access roads in the Four Corners area at a cost of $13.5 million. According to AEC officials, these "emergency funds" were provided to "expedite" uranium production. The Times-Independent reported that "back country never before accessible is now open to exploration...by hardy uranium prospectors whose finds of valuable deposits of this precious material has forced the building of roads to allow shipment to the mills from these mines." 57
One example of a uranium access road is the Shafer Trail. During the early twentieth century the Murphy brothers and Shafer brothers developed this cattle trail along the Colorado River west of Moab, directly below Dead Horse Point. At some points the trail was so narrow that a cow could not turn around without tumbling to its death. In the summer of 1952 a group of mining companies and miners hired Nate Knight, Gordon Babble, and Felix and Nick Murphy, all long-time citizens of Moab, to widen the trail into a road. The Times-Independent reported, "The Shafer Trail, though built primarily as an AEC access road, will eventually become known as one of the most spectacular scenic trips in the world." 58 In 1961 the area made accessible by Shafer Trail was set aside as the one-million acre Canyonlands National Park. Today, the Shafer Trail still provides the only access into many areas of the park.
Another AEC access road developed at this time was the "river road" along the Colorado north of Moab. The trail (prior to 1950) was widened and graveled, with funds provided by the AEC (95 percent) and the state of Utah (5 percent). 59 The road from Green River to Hanksville, Highway 24, which river-rafting companies use for dropping off and picking up rafters, was also originally a uranium access road. In a prophetic statement, Times- Independent editor Mack Turner wrote in 1956:
Travel to Arches National Monument increased dramatically during this period. During the travel year of 1946-47 (July 1 to June 30), 3,080 people visited the park. However, with the publicity that came with the uranium, people flocked to see the sights. In 1953, as of November 25, some 30,350 had visited the park that year. 61
The national publicity received by Charlie Steen and the uranium industry drew tourists to Utah, but it also hindered vacationers. Abnormally high prices and lack of accommodations acted as strong deterrents to travelers. 62 However, as Moab improved conditions, city leaders encouraged visitors to come. In the summer of 1955 entrepreneurs built seven new motels, bringing the total to eleven. The newspaper announced, "So if you by chance live elsewhere and would like to see historic Moab and its picturesque surroundings next summer, come ahead! You'll no longer have to sleep in your car. 63
Despite the turmoil of the times, Elsie Leech, whose grandparents settled Moab in the 1890s, saw the boom as a very positive time in her life. She said that without the UTEX Mill that her husband worked at for twentythree years, she would not have had the income to stay in Moab, near her family. "Some things [like not being able to water the lawn or use the telephone] you just had to put up with," she said. "Businesses might have had problems, but normal everyday people—we just dealt with it and it didn't bother us that much." Another plus from Leech's perspective was that Moab had more of the conveniences of larger cities. For example, she said,
"At Miller's Co-op, you could get everything you wanted. You might have to stand in line a while, but you could get it." 64
The years from 1948 to 1957 transformed Moab. The community faced the same problems that confronted any growing town, but at a much faster pace. As city leaders creatively and systematically worked through these problems, the vital infrastructure developed upon which Moab is based today. Although many of the uranium miners left Moab after the AEC stopped buying ore, the impact of the uranium boom endured. For Moab, like other mining communities in the West, the mining industry was the link between an agriculture-based and a tourist-dependent economy. Although the astronomical increase in the value of the hot rocks containing uranium created huge waves for the community, citizens were able to handle the problems and provide solutions that would last for decades.
NOTES
Amberly Knight holds a degree in history and is a student in international studies She is writing a thesis on conservationists' efforts in Jordan to foster a rural economy that is both viable and environmentally sound
1 Phyllis Cortes, Grand Memories (Grand County: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1978), 3.
2 Nathaniel B Knight, Jr., interview by Suzanne Simon, August 10, 1970, transcript in Uranium Industry Project, University of Utah and California State College, Fullerton, 2 Don Sorensen, "Wonder Mineral: Utah's Uranium," Utah Historical Quarterly 31 (1963): 289
3 Lee Huffaker, interview by author, November 5, 1995, Moab.
4 Two excellent sources on the events during this time period are Arthur R Gomez, Quest for the Golden Circle (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994) and Raymond W and Samuel W Taylor, Uranium Fever, or No Talk under $1 Million (NewYork: Macmillan, 1970) Times-Independent, July 29, 1948
5 Times-Independent, April 27, 1950. Nate B. Knight, who had mined uranium and vanadium in Moab since 1910, tried to mine the MiVida area in 1949 He believed that ore was located below the surface, but he could not get to it Three years later Charles Steen realized the potential of the area With his background in geology, he was able to convince investors to provide him with deep-drilling equipment. When he struck ore, he found a vein that proved to be worth $60 million; Jacque Knight, interview by author, October 20, 1997, Moab, Utah
6 Times-Independent, July 6, 1950, and March 6, 1951.
7 Ibid., June 23, 1955 Steen's rich MiVida Mine was in Lisbon Valley in southern San Juan County
8 Times-Independent, May 4,1950; U S Census, 1940,1950, and 1960
9 Dennis E. "Pete" Byrd, interview by author, October 10, 1997, Moab.
10 Ibid
11 Times-Independent, August 4, 1955.
12 Moab City Council Minutes, vol. 3, February 2, 1954.
13 William E McDougall, interview by author, October 20, 1997, Moab; Moab City Council Minutes, vol 3, February 2 and March 3, 1954
14 Times-Independent, January 6, 1955
15 June Stilson, interview by author, October 20, 1997, Moab; Taylor and Taylor, Uranium Fever, 110; McDougall interview
16 Stilson interview
17 Moab City Council Minutes, vol 3, April 22, 1954
18 Times-Independent, August 11, 1955
19 Ibid., June 23,1955
20 Ibid., November 3, 1955
21 Ibid., January 6 and 27, 1955, and July 7, 1955
22 Ralph Miller, Jr., interview by author, October 9, 1997, Moab; Byrd interview
23 Adrien Taylor, interview by author, October 9, 1997, Moab; Miller interview
24 Times-Independent, January 27 and March 3,1955;Taylor interview
25 Ibid., January 11,1951
26 Ibid.,January 27,1955.
27 Times-Independent, June 30, 1955
28 Ibid.June 30, 1955,July 21, 1949,August 24,1950
29 Miller interview; Byrd interview
30 Times-Independent, June 30,1955.
31 Times-Independent, April 28,1955; Cortes, Grant Memories, 100; Byrd interview; McDougall interview
32 Times-Independent, June 16, 1955
33 Ibid., February 20, 1955
34 Ibid., December 10, 1953
35 Ibid., January 20, 1955.
36 Ibid., July 21 and 30, 1955; Byrd interview; Miller interview.
37 Times-Independent, August 25, October 6, 1955; Miller interview
38 Cortes, Grand Memories, 60
39 Times-Independent, May 20, October 28, August 12, 1954, July 14, 1955; Paula Kelley, "A Medical March through Time: A Brief History of the Hospital, Doctors and Nurses Who Served Moab," Canyon Legacy 38 (Spring 2000), 12
40 Miller, McDougall, Knight interviews; Kelly, 14
41 Times-Independent, March 16, 1950, February 25,1954;Kelley,"A Medical March," 14.
42 Times-Independent, March 24,1955
43 Ibid., June 23, 1955
44 Ibid., February 17, 1949; November 24,1955.
45 Taylor interview.
46 Byrd interview; Times-Independent, June 23, 1955
47 The city used bonds to fund improvements to the sewer and water system: $150,000 in 1951, $75,000 in 1954, $133,000 in 1956, and $85,000 in 1957; Times-Independent, June 14, 1951, July 29, 1954, January 19, 1956, June 13, 1957 Additionally, the city issued a $600,000 bond to build a new elementary school in 1954 and a $225,000 bond to build the hospital in 1956; Times-Independent, April 8, 1954, and Kelley,"A Medical March," 14. Grand County also bonded extensively—to its legal limit during 1954-56; Times-Independent, July 29, December 23, 1954,June 23,1955,January 19, 1956
48 Times-Independent, January 21, July 2, 1952.
49 Ibid., August 26, 1954, March 3, 1955, and June 30, 1955
50 Ibid., June 6, 1957
51 Ibid., August 11,1955
52 Ibid., July 21, 1955, January 26, 1956, May 9, 1957
53 Ibid., January 26, 1956, March 1, 1957
54 Byrd interview
55 Ibid
56 Moab City Council Minutes, vol. 3, May 5, 1954.
57 Gomez, Quest for the Golden Circle, 26. Times-Independent, February 8, 1951, June 11, 1953.
58 Knight interview; Times-Independent, December 31, 1953
59 Ibid
60 Quoted in Raye Ringholz, Uranium Frenzy: Boom and Bust on the Colorado Plateau (NewYork:W.W Norton, 1989), 270
61 Times-Independent, June 30, 1949, and November 26,1953
62 Ibid., June 30, 1955.
63 Ibid., October 6,1955
64 Elsie Leech, interview by author, October 10, 1997, Moab
