Moab Museum | Posts
Following the discovery of gold and silver in the La Sal Mountains late in the 1800s, the remote town of Castleton, Utah developed near the base of the mountains at the southeastern end of Castle Valley. In its heyday, it was comparable in size to Moab. It served as a hub for miners in nearby…
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Dewey, Utah, a crucial transportation link in Grand County’s history, was home to several key families throughout history. In 1902, Richard “Dick” Westwood and his wife Martha Westwood moved to Dewey, Utah to operate the ferry used for crossing the Colorado River. For the Westwood family and their many small children, life in Dewey posed…
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On September 8, 1522, Spanish-Basque navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano, from the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, completed the first known single expedition voyage around the globe as part of the journey that began under the command of Ferdinand Magellan. When Magellan died in 1521, Juan Sebastian Elcano took over as commander of the ship “Victoria,” sailing…
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This week marks the 60th anniversary of an explosion at Texas Gulf Sulphur’s potash mine, called “Cane Creek,” along the banks of the Colorado, 24 miles southeast of Moab. The mine site, now owned by Intrepid Potash Inc., can be seen from the heights of Dead Horse Point State Park: Visitors to the area lay…
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The Moab area is dotted with numerous ghost towns – communities that came into existence due to mining, ranching, and transportation needs. The communities later depopulated due to changing economics, environment, and infrastructure. The Museum’s archives include a historic postcard that was delivered to the remote community of Miner’s Basin high in the La Sal…
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Gold was discovered by prospectors in the La Sal Mountains in 1888. It was a discovery that launched the establishment of the now-depopulated town of Miners Basin deep within the La Sal Mountains. The town is located in a ravine on the northern end of the La Sal Mountains, above Pinhook Draw and the upper…
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“The People’s Tapestry: Weaving Tradition in Navajo Culture” is currently being exhibited at the Moab Museum, featuring a variety of styles of Navajo textiles, as well as renderings of the various ways textiles were used. In this column throughout the summer, the Museum team will feature a variety of weaving styles and their associated backgrounds…
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The island of Maui was ravaged by wildfires in August 2023, destroying the cultural center of the island, Lāhainā. While our towns are far apart, our histories are intricately tied together. Our thoughts are with the families of Lāhainā who have lost family members, friends, their community, their homes in the deadliest U.S. wildfire in…
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What are traveling exhibits? Museums large and small often opt to borrow traveling exhibits to temporarily integrate into their galleries when they align with their institution’s scope or programming. Traveling exhibits are curated collections of objects and/or images that tell a story, but are displayed for only a limited time frame. These exhibits are commonly…
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“The People’s Tapestry: Weaving Tradition in Navajo Culture” is currently being exhibited at the Moab Museum, featuring a variety of styles of Navajo textiles, as well as renderings of the various ways textiles were used. In this column throughout the summer, the Museum team will feature a variety of weaving styles and their associated backgrounds…
Read More