Existing comment:
Settlers:
Ranching:
Cowboys, along with Basque and Hispanic sheepherders, began roaming this area when stockmen, drawn by the grasslands, moved their herds into the region in the late 1870s. Grazing was typically seasonal, with the animals using summer pastures in the higher elevations of the Book Cliffs or the La Sal Mountains.
Grazing inside the park is no longer allowed but ranching continues in nearby areas. The cowboys and sheepherders knew the area well but left little evidence of their time spent here other than the stumps of junipers cut for firewood and a few rusty tin cans discarded near their camps.
Wolfe Family:
By 1898, Civil War veteran John Wesley Wolfe and his son, Fred, had settled more permanently than other ranchers, in a cabin on the bank of the Salt Wash. Wolfe found enough water and forage to raise a few cattle. Building a small dam across Salt Wash, they were able to grow a garden. The first cabin was fairly primitive and when John's daughter, Flora Stanley, and her family arrived in 1906, she convinced her father to build a new cabin, this time with a wooden floor! The first cabin washed away in a flood but the 1906 cabin can still be seen today and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mining:
Prospectors explored this area as early as the 1890s. Although no exploitable deposits were developed, many mining claims were staked in the surrounding area.
The importance of mining to the local economy reached its zenith during the 1950s when Moab became the "Uranium Capitol of the World." In 1952, Charlie Steen discovered a multi-million dollar deposit of uranium ore south of Moab that triggered a uranium boom. Steen and his partners built a mill on the banks of the Colorado River to refine ore from the surrounding area. The boom ended in the 1970s and the mill closed in 1984, but not before drawing attention to southeast Utah and changing Moab from a hamlet into a small city.
Cordova Family:
In 1919, Epimineo and Emmer Cordova established a small ranch in what is now known as Cordova Canyon on the northeastern edge of the park. They hauled lumber from Thompson, Utah, and built a house of several rooms. The original house burned in 1932 and a smaller house was built to replace it.
The oldest Cordova son, Beveline, and his wife Bonita Keel raised their children at the ranch. The ranch was abandoned in the 1930s and is slowly returning to nature. The walls of one room still stand as a testament to the family's determination to make this beautiful part of canon country their home. |