He was one of Moab’s most familiar faces for decades, and one of its most talented artists. Don was born and raised in Ferron, in Emery County, where his family had lived for generations. But Don moved to Moab in 1970--he worked at the Green River missile base, at Atlas Minerals and at Moab Lumber for a few years, but in 1975 he bought the High Desert Gift Shop on Main Street.
It was the perfect venue for Don to display his many talents. He was a line artist, a silversmith. a scrimshaw engraver. He ran his shop almost singlehandedly and no matter how much business he might have lost, he was always closed on Sunday. But more than that, he was a generous member of the Moab Community.
One would be hardpressed to find someone with an unkind word for Don. When he died a few years ago, Moab lost one of her favorite son.
After a long winter and a very cold and prolonged spring, summer suddenly arrived in late May 1983, and with it, the rapid melting of the Colorado and Green River systems. It was one of the greatest floods of the 20th Century. Flows reached 130,000 cubic feet per second in Cataract Canyon, and for a while, it appeared Glen Canyon Dam’ may not withstand the sudden rise.
At Moab, water almost reached the bottom of the highway bridge and crews worked frantically to remove debris caught underneath. Just south of the river, the overflowed river filled The Sloughs, eventually coming wihin a few yards of the road.
Today the Aarchway Inn sits in the foreground of this photograph.
UPPER SPANISH VALLEY...1978
The good and the bad...the utter lack of condo developments in this
photo is striking. It was still just empty land, not worth much to
anyone, 30 years ago.
That’s the good part.
If you want to look for ways Moab has improved since then, note the black
pall of smoke that hangs over the valley on the right side of this photo.
It’s almost been forgotten that until the mid-1980s, Moab burned its
garbage nearly every morning. When the wind was right, or if Moab was
caught in an inversion, the black acrid smoke would settle over the town
and just hang there for most of the day.
If nothing else, Moab’s air quality has improved since 1978.
Photographs JS