It is a very quiet morning here in Moab, Utah. Outside a gentle rain is falling, the first we have seen in a few weeks. All month the weather in our part of the world has been mild, with…
Paul Vlachos is a New Yorker who understands The West. And he is a New Yorker who understands New York. Wherever Paul goes, he finds signs of life… 1. El Paso, Texas – 2016 There was a lot of…
In the early evening hours of January 19, 1961, President-elect John F. Kennedy sat alone in the study of his soon-to-be vacated home in Georgetown, Virginia. In his lap, a loose-leaf notebook encased the Inaugural Address of the 35th President…
Lately I’ve been studying the barn and trees across the road from my house. I like watching trees move into winter, though this late in the year most of them are already there. No one uses the barn anymore. The…
From The 2004 Zephyr Archives EDITOR’S NOTE & REQUEST: BIanca Dumas of helper, Utah submitted this essay to The Zephyr back in 2004. It has always been one of my favorites and we’re happy to re-post it. Her observations are…
The Uranium Boom. The big bang that was heard and felt around the globe. Although the Atomic Bomb was used with devastating effect to end World War II, it has not lost its popularity as a threat for further action.…
THANKS to Tom McCourt & the Tibbetts Family. For years, I have been watching Moab move farther and farther away from its roots, to the point where it seems few people even know the history of the place anymore. Some…
(From the 2001 Zephyr Archives) The Debate on Wilderness Designation Moves into a New Century and Opinions Still Vary, Even Among Environmentalists Liz Thomas: Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Why Protect All That is Left? Huge amounts of wilderness have…
Old U.S. 6, now swallowed up by Interstate 70. HERB RINGER came West from his home in New Jersey in 1939. Camera in hand, Herb captured the American West, from the Canadian Border to the Rio Grande and from the…
“After” photo courtesy of Paul Vlachos. To comment, scroll to the bottom of the page. Don’t forget the Zephyr ads! All links are hot! Save Save Save Save Save
Grant Hagen and I dropped in on Fred Brown at his house near Wilson, at the foot of Teton pass. We went outside and sat on the ground in the shade of the house and Fred said, “Good to have…
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TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT…Jim Stiles A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE DAVIDSON/SMELT/TAYO INC LAW SUIT ‘SERIOUSLY. IT’S TIME FOR ‘NONE OF THE ABOVE’” SOWING CLOVER…Tonya Stiles THE LAST AMERICAN SLAVES ‘BEFORE & AFTER’…1940 & 2016 The Junction of US 191…
On September 20, I was surprised to learn, via an email from the Moab Times-Independent, that I was one of five defendants in a civil suit filed by Moab’s then-City Manager Rebecca Davidson, her housemate Tara Smelt and Ms. Smelt’s…
“The horror…the horror.” —Joseph Conrad Last Monday evening, while more than a hundred million American masochists gathered gloomily around their flat-screens and “devices,” for no better reason than to confirm just how deeply our country’s moral compass has spun out…
Paul Vlachos is a New Yorker who understands The West. And he is a New Yorker who understands New York. Wherever Paul goes, he finds signs of life… 1. The first time I went through Fallon, Nevada, I stayed in…
MOAB, UTAH. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1941 Well, it’s been raining buckets since yesterday afternoon and with no end in sight. These storms have been a welcome relief after our long, dry and dusty summer, so I’m not going to mention…
Ned Chaffin, 86, often presages his narratives with the phrase “to make a long story short,” but his tales–many of which deal with his growing-up years in the remote sandstone jungle later preserved as the Maze District of Canyonlands National…
from The Zephyr Archives..Oct/Nov 2008 It may seem impossible in 2008, but there was a time when presidential candidates had the courage to confront power and greed in this country, even the crooked ones. Here are some memorable examples: FDR…”and…
THANKS to Tom McCourt & the Tibbetts Family. For years, I have been watching Moab move farther and farther away from its roots, to the point where it seems few people even know the history of the place anymore. Some…
EDITOR’S NOTE: As this story suggests, we all thought Gene Schafer would live forever, or as he liked to say, “Long enough to piss on all of your graves.” He was like nobody else—outspoken and blunt beyond description, caring and…