Editing Moab, Utah (section)

==History==

===Early years===
Residents named the town Moab in 1880;<ref name="Utah History Encyclopedia">{{Citation | last = Bearnson | first = Margaret S. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = Moab | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MOAB.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240321165105/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MOAB.shtml | archive-date = March 21, 2024 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = October 3, 2024}}</ref> [[Moab|in the Bible this term]] refers to an area of land located on the eastern side of the [[Jordan River]]. Some historians believe the city in Utah came to use this name because of William Andrew Peirce, the first postmaster, believing that the biblical Moab and this part of Utah were both "the far country".<ref name=Daughters>{{cite book |publisher=Daughters of the Utah Pioneers |year=1972 |title=Grand Memories| location=Grand County, Utah |author=Daughters of the Utah Pioneers |author-link=Daughters of the Utah Pioneers |chapter=Moab |edition=2nd |oclc=4790603}}</ref>{{rp|16}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Tanner, Faun McConkie |year=1976 |title=The Far Country: A Regional History of Moab and La Sal, Utah |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |publisher=Olympus Publishing Company |page=89 |isbn=0-913420-63-8}}</ref> However, others believe the name has [[Colorado River Numic language|Paiute]] origins, referring to the word ''moapa'', meaning "mosquito".<ref name=moabhistory>{{cite web |url=http://www.moabcity.org/visitors/history.cfm |publisher=City of Moab |title=Moab&nbsp;— History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106183105/http://www.moabcity.org/visitors/history.cfm |archive-date=2006-11-06 }}</ref> Some of the area's early residents attempted to change the city's name, because in the Christian Bible, Moabites are demeaned as [[incest]]uous and [[idolatry|idolatrous]] (but note, [[Ruth (biblical figure)|Ruth]] was a Moabite). One petition in 1890 had 59 signatures and requested a name change to "Vina".<ref name=Daughters/>{{rp|50}} Another effort attempted to change the name to "Uvadalia".<ref name=moabhistory/> Both attempts failed.

During the period between 1829 and the early 1850s, the area around what is now Moab served as the [[Colorado River]] crossing along the [[Old Spanish Trail (trade route)|Old Spanish Trail]]. [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Latter-day Saint]] settlers attempted to establish a trading fort at the river crossing called the Elk Mountain Mission in April 1855 to trade with travellers attempting to cross the river. Forty men were called on this mission. There were repeated Indian attacks, including one on September 23, 1855, in which James Hunt, companion to Peter Stubbs, was shot and killed by a Native American.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stubbs |first=Peter |title=Autobiography of Peter Stubbs |year=1890}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stubbstervorthistory.50megs.com/Peter_Stubbs_1824.htm|title=Autobiography of}}</ref> After this last attack, the fort was abandoned.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moabcity.org/visitors/history.cfm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-09-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106183105/http://www.moabcity.org/visitors/history.cfm |archive-date=2006-11-06 }}</ref> A new group of settlers from Rich County, led by Randolph Hockaday Stewart, established a permanent settlement in 1878 under the direction of Brigham Young.<ref>[https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/66822fb5-5415-47aa-b96c-604c2afda185 National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form for Moab cabin]</ref>  Moab was incorporated as a town on December 20, 1902.<ref name=moabhistory/>

In 1883 the [[Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad]] main line was constructed across eastern Utah. The rail line did not pass through Moab, instead passing through the towns of [[Thompson Springs, Utah|Thompson Springs]]  {{cvt|38|mi}} and [[Cisco, Utah|Cisco]], {{convert|47|mi}} to the north.<ref name=Utahghostrails>{{cite book |last=Carr |first=Stephen L. |author2=Edwards, Robert W. |title=Utah Ghost Rails |year=1989 |publisher=Western Epics |location=[[Salt Lake City, Utah]] |isbn=0-914740-34-2 |pages=188–194 |chapter=Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway}}</ref> Later, other places to cross the Colorado were constructed, such as [[Lee's Ferry]], [[Navajo Bridge]] and [[Hoover Dam|Boulder Dam]]. These changes shifted the trade routes away from Moab. Moab farmers and merchants had to adapt from trading with passing travelers to shipping their goods to distant markets.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} Soon Moab's origins as one of the few natural crossings of the Colorado River were forgotten.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} Nevertheless, the U.S. military deemed the bridge over the Colorado River at Moab important enough to place it under guard as late as [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://moabsunnews.com/2022/12/08/wwii-bridge-guards-honored/ |title=WWII Bridge Guards Honored|work=Moab Sun News |first=Rachel |last=Fixsen |date=Dec 2, 2022 |access-date=Oct 7, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.moabhappenings.com/Archives/historic0903RiverBridgeMemorial.htm |publisher=Moab Happenings |title=River Bridge Memorial |first=Vicki |last=Barker |date=March 1, 2009 |access-date=Oct 7, 2023}}</ref>

In 1943, a former [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] camp outside Moab was used as a [[Internment of Japanese Americans#Citizen Isolation Centers|Citizen Isolation Center]] to confine [[Internment of Japanese Americans|Japanese American internees]] labeled "troublemakers" by authorities in the [[War Relocation Authority]], the government body responsible for overseeing the wartime incarceration program.<ref name="fulllist">{{cite web | title=Japanese American Internment Camps | url=http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/camp.html | access-date= }}</ref> The Moab Isolation Center for "noncompliant" Japanese Americans was created in response to growing resistance to WRA policies within the camps; a December 1942 clash between guards and inmates known as the "[[Manzanar#Resistance|Manzanar Riot]]", in which two were killed and ten injured, was the final push.<ref name=Hansen>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Hansen |first=Arthur A. |url=http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Moab/Leupp%20Isolation%20Centers%20%28detention%20facility%29/ |title=Moab/Leupp Isolation Centers |encyclopedia=Densho Encyclopedia |access-date=18 Jun 2014}}</ref> On January 11, 1943, the sixteen men who had initiated the two-day protests were transferred to Moab from the town jails where they were booked (without charges or access to hearings) after the riot. Having closed just fifteen months prior, all 18 military-style structures of the CCC camp were in good condition, and the site was converted to its new use with minimal renovation.<ref name=NPS>Burton, Jeffery. ''Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites'' (National Park Service, 2011) p. 325.</ref> 150 military police guarded the camp, and director Raymond Best and head of security Francis Frederick presided over administration.<ref name=Hansen/> On February 18, thirteen transfers from [[Gila River War Relocation Center|Gila River]], Arizona, were brought to Moab, and six days later, ten more arrived from Manzanar. An additional fifteen [[Tule Lake Unit, World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument|Tule Lake]] inmates were transferred on April 2. Most of these new arrivals were removed from the general camp population because of their resistance to the WRA's attempts to [[Internment of Japanese Americans#Loyalty questions and segregation|determine the loyalty]] of incarcerated Japanese Americans, met largely with confusion and anger because of a lack of explanation as to how and why internees would be assessed.<ref name=Hansen/> The Moab Isolation Center remained open until April 27, when most of its inmates were bused to the larger and more secure [[History of Leupp, Arizona|Leupp Isolation Center]]. (Five men, serving sentences in the Grand County Jail after protesting conditions in Moab, were transported to Leupp in a five-by-six-foot box on the back of a truck. Their separate transfer was arranged by Francis Frederick, who had also handed down their prison sentences, using a law he later rescinded to charge them with unlawful assembly.)<ref name=Hansen/><ref>Redsteer, Debra. [http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2008/6/28/enduring-communities/ "Leupp, Arizona: A Shared Historic Space for the Navajo Nation and Japanese Americans"] ''Discover Nikkei'', 28 Jun 2008 (accessed 18 Jun 2014).</ref> In 1994, the "Dalton Wells CCC Camp/Moab Relocation Center" was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and, although no marker exists on the site, an information plaque at the current site entrance and a photograph on display at the Dan O'Laurie Museum in Moab mention the former isolation center.<ref name=Hansen/><ref>Burton, Jeffery. ''Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites'' (National Park Service, 2011) p. 330.</ref>

===Later years===
Moab's economy was originally based on agriculture, but gradually shifted to mining. [[Uranium]] and [[vanadium]] were discovered in the area in the 1910s and 1920s.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} [[Potash]] and [[manganese]] came next, and then oil and gas were discovered.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} In the 1950s Moab became the so-called "Uranium Capital of the World" after geologist [[Charles Steen]] found a rich deposit of uranium ore south of the city.<ref name= moabhistory/> This discovery coincided with the advent of the era of [[nuclear weapon]]s and [[nuclear power]] in the United States, and Moab's boom years began.<ref name="Utah History Encyclopedia"/>

The city population grew nearly 500% over the next few years, bringing the population to near 6,000 people. The explosion in population caused much construction of houses and schools. Charles Steen donated a great deal of money and land to create new houses and churches in Moab.<ref>[http://moabtimes.com/view/full_story/2795539/article--Charles-Steen--1919-2006 Moab Times]</ref>

With the winding down of the [[Cold War]], Moab's uranium boom was over, and the city's population drastically declined. By the early 1980s a number of homes stood empty, and nearly all of the uranium mines had closed.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

In 1949, [[Western (genre)|Western]] movie director [[John Ford]] was persuaded to use the area for the movie ''[[Wagon Master]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-sep-20-ca-secondlook20-story.html|title = Archives|website = [[Los Angeles Times]]| date=20 September 2009 }}</ref> Ford had been using the area in [[Monument Valley]] around [[Mexican Hat, Utah]], south of Moab, since he filmed ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]'' there 10 years earlier in 1939. A local Moab rancher (George White) found Ford and persuaded him to come take a look at Moab.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/45170/MOAB-MOVIES--RESIDENT-HAD-LEADING-ROLE-IN-ATTRACTING-FILMMAKERS.html|title = Moab Movies: Resident Had Leading Role in Attracting Filmmakers|website = [[Deseret News]]|date = 4 May 1989}}{{dead link|date=November 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The Moab to Monument Valley Film Commission is a Moab City Department<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://moabcity.org/152/Departments|title=Departments &#124; Moab, UT - Official Website}}</ref> and holds the title of the longest running film commission in the world. Established in 1949,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.filmmoab.com/ |title=Home |website=filmmoab.com}}</ref> the commission has overseen the production of the many movies filmed near Moab.

In recent years, Moab has experienced a surge of [[vacation property|second-home]] owners.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} The relatively mild winters and enjoyable summers have attracted many people to build such homes throughout the area. In a situation mirroring that of other [[resort town]]s in the [[American West]], controversy has arisen over these new residents and their houses, which in many cases remain unoccupied for most of the year. Many Moab citizens are concerned that the town is seeing changes similar to those experienced in [[Vail, Colorado|Vail]] and [[Aspen, Colorado|Aspen]] in neighboring [[Colorado]]: skyrocketing property values, a rising cost of living, and corresponding effects on local low- and middle-income workers.<ref>Stiles, Jim. ''Brave New West: Morphing Moab at the Speed of Greed''. Tucson, Arizona: [[University of Arizona Press]], 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.hcn.org/issues/199/10379 "Luxury looms over Moab"] ''High Country News'', March 26, 2001</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Steen's $11 million dollar Uranium Reduction Co. Moab,Utah.jpg|Charlie Steen's $11 million Uranium Reduction Co. that became the Atlas Uranium Mill
File:County-sponsored sign promoting manufacturing in Moab during the early 1970s.jpg|County-sponsored sign promoting manufacturing in Moab during the early 1970s
File:Uranium Building, Moab.jpg|Uranium building's historic storefront, 2019
File:Lin Ottinger’s eccentric rock shop, Moab.jpg|A rock shop, 2019
</gallery>