People Profiles: Gateway to Canyonlands
Profile
“Tex” McClatchy
“Find a place you like and figure out how to live there.” Warren Gordon “Tex” McClatchy arrived in Moab in the booming 1950s to teach in its overcrowded schools, but he soon left the classroom for a life earning a living on the Colorado River. A legend among Colorado River outfitters and acknowledged as one of the fathers of Moab’s recreation industry, McClatchy introduced large jet boat and canoe trips to the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers. Founded in 1958, Tex’s Riverways continues teaching adventurers how to enjoy and protect southeastern Utah’s pristine environment.
Profile
Mitchell “Mitch” Williams
“The war gave us Jeeps, uranium prospecting gave us roads.” After flying 89 combat missions in the Pacific during World War II, the son of Moab’s first doctor returned home to carve out a living and raise his family. Working multiple jobs sustained the Williams for a while, but Mitch’s love of the desert and memories of his childhood adventures on the river fueled an interest in sharing them with the traveling public. Soon Tag-A-Long Tours was a thriving business, entertaining tourists from all over the world in Jeeps and on rafts on the Colorado, helping to transform the tourism business into the expedition business.
Bates Wilson in his own voice
