Category: December/January 2018
Take it or Leave it: BEARS EARS, OIL LEASES AND A “SHOE ON THE OTHER FOOT”…by Jim Stiles
First, in the spirit of the season, let’s give everyone the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the way liberals and conservatives view public lands in the western United States… Liberals tend to prefer greater restrictions and regulations…
Sowing Clover: Lost Nazis, Broken Pinatas, and the Futility of a Flying Fist…by Tonya Morton
No party, no cause, no struggle, however worthy, is ever free from evil. No earthly cause is entirely good. And to believe with absolute certainty that you are on “the right side of history,” or on the right side of…
BOYS BECAME MEN–MY DAD’S SERVICE IN WW II…by Jim Stiles
NOTE: A couple weeks ago, I posted some photographs of my father on my facebook page, to commemorate his service during World War II. He was a navigator on a Consolidated B-24 Liberator and saw action in the Pacific during…
The Fork in the Trail: Progress or the Path of Light …by Harvey Leake
Sometimes the Barbarian seems to be the Civilized Man. Sometimes the Civilized Man seems to be the Barbarian. —Benson J. Lossing, 1870 In late October, 1907, my great grandfather, John Wetherill, was making his way up the San Juan…
Vlachos Views: “The 20th Century”…Photos and Captions by Paul Vlachos
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… I do not always have a theme for these columns. It’s often…
“When ‘Bears Ears’ had TOO MUCH protection?” A Personal Recollection…by Jim Stiles
NOTE: For the purposes of this story I refer to the area of Grand Gulch and Cedar Mesa as “Bears Ears.” But please note that in the forty-seven years I’ve known and wandered southeast Utah, literally NOBODY ever referred to…
Recollections…by Damon Falke
Note: December is here. As I write this, I’m watching snow blow over the sund,* and on the hill behind the house the powder’s already a half meter or more deep. I’m listening to Frank Sinatra sing “Have Yourself a…
Take it or Leave it: WHY RETURNING FED LANDS TO THE STATES IS STILL A RISKY NOTION…by Jim Stiles
As a counter to the monument designation, and in fact as a long standing response to what local and state governments consider federal overreach, there are some in Utah state and local governments like San Juan County who have advocated…
STATUES, ‘NEGRO BILL,’ & THE ERASURE OF HISTORY…by Jim Stiles
I have made a living, more or less, as a writer for 30 years, mostly as the editor of this publication and sometimes as a freelancer for others. I believe in the dissemination of information, wherever the facts may lead.…