Small Museum - Big Stories

A cultural and natural history Museum dedicated to sharing the rich stories of the Moab, Utah and the Canyonlands region through Exhibits, Programs, Oral Histories and Community Events.

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Upcoming Events and Programs

New Special Exhibit

A GRAND HERITAGE

Stories From the Oral History Archive

Oral histories paint a vivid picture of days gone by - adding detail and depth to our understanding of the past. How can we preserve community stories moving forward? Learn more about the Museum’s efforts to preserve, diversify, and increase access to the range of oral histories in our Collection and add your family history by visiting the exhibit.

The exhibition will be on display through the end of April.

Current Exhibit at Dead Horse Point State Park

Spirit and Grit

Ranching in Canyonlands

Thousands of years of human history have unfolded across the Dead Horse Point State Park landscape. The Park's name originates from its storied ranching history. One legend claims a group of cowboys cornered a herd of wild horses on the point. The horses, in a frenzy of exhaustion and thirst, could see and smell the water below and leapt to their deaths.

 

Walking Tour – Every Thursday – March through October

Agritourism Experience

Livestock built this city

Experience the legacy of Agriculture in the city of “The Far Country.”

Join Museum Staff for this 1-hour guided tour of Moab’s Historic Business District. During this 1-mile guided experience, guests will have the opportunity to learn and explore the legacy of some of the men and women who helped establish and build-up the City of Moab, Utah through their investments in the community and their civic leadership.

Thursdays - March through October, 2023 - 10am

Oral Histories

The Storylines:

The People. The Land. Today. Tomorrow

The People: Profiles

Lydia Taylor Skewes

“My people came to the little Grand Valley in wagons and forded the Colorado River, and I’ve flown in jet planes.” A daughter of one of the earliest families to settle in Moab, Lydia Skewes grew up watching Moab grow up...

Hidden Valley load basket

The basket dates to 885-1020 A.D. and likely was used by Ancestral Puebloans to carry items such as food and small children.

MM Buck Rodgers Geiger Counter

Buck Rogers Geiger counter

By the 1960s, radiation detection technology had advanced to produce an updated version of the 1950s Babbel Model 600A.

Mammoth Tusk

Mammoth Tusk

Found nearby in Professor Valley, this fossil provides an exciting peek into this region during the last Ice Age when mammoths thrived.

100 million years ago

100 Million Years ago

At this time in the Cretaceous Period, much of western North America was inundated with a large seaway. Portions of the Colorado Plateau were repeatedly underwater during Earth’s long geologic history, as we see from the sediments and aquatic fossils preserved throughout the region.