Note: In the essay that follows, I continue to write about my early days of learning to fly fish. Uncle Lloyd still lived in Dove Creek, and I was on the way west again with my family. We were moving…
Rivers Near and Far…by Damon Falke
BYGONES & OBSOLETE STORIES: Merchants & Farmers …by Clark Phelps
My dad, like many people in 1911, was born at home in his parents apartment, without the assistance of medical professionals. My grandmother Phelps lived in that apartment above their store from the time it was built in 1906 until…
Remembering Ken Davey–“Dean of the Moab Press Corps” (In His Own Words)
In early December, when Cisco Davey contacted me to say that his dad, Ken Davey, had died, I was, for once, at a loss for words. I guess I still am. Ken was my next door neighbor in Moab for…
DOG OF THE MONTH: ROGER!
EDITORS NOTE: For almost twenty years, the “DOG OF THE MONTH” was one of The Zephyr’s most popular regular features. When the print version ended, so did the dogs, but now we’ve been thinking it’s time for a Renaissance of…
WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAMED…by Jim Stiles
It was an ungodly silence. Across the wide expanse of prairie for a thousand miles, only the sound of the wind rustling remnants of the tall grass betrayed the overwhelming and absolute stillness. Inconceivable to most, the great rolling thunder…
HERB RINGER’S AMERICAN WEST: A LETTER from HERB about… RHYOLITE GHOST TOWN, EATING ANTS & COURTEOUS HOOKERS.
A Letter from HERB: Dear Jim, Just a little explanation on these old prints. Wes Moreland, standing in the doorway of the railroad station at Ryolite with his red setter. Both lived quite well on steak every day. I believe…
BEFORE & AFTER: The Poplar Place
For decades, Moab’s Poplar Place stood sentinel on the corner of Main and Center Streets. It was probably one of Moab’s most familiar landmarks. In 1989, an overnight fire almost destroyed the beloved pub but its owner, Joe Kingsley, refused…
A Full Year of Backbone Supporters! Please Join!
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The December/January Issue of the Zephyr!
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.…
BYGONES & OBSOLETE STORIES: Avoiding the Vietnam Draft…by Clark Phelps
VIETNAM – KEN BURNS & LYNN NOVICK I watched the PBS Television series on the Vietnam.War. I did not serve – I made no apology then and find no need to apologize now that I anguished for years to not be…
An Excerpt From ‘LAST OF THE ROBBERS ROOST OUTLAWS: Moab’s BILL TIBBETTS’, PART 14…By Tom McCourt
THANKS to Tom McCourt & the Tibbetts Family. For years, I have been watching Moab move farther and farther away from its roots, to the point where it seems few people even know the history of the place anymore. Some…
Live! with Katie Lee: An Interview with the Irrepressible and Irascible Kandid Katie…by Jim Stiles
Katie Lee died last month, in her sleep, at the age of 98. Many of us thought she was immortal. She was a force of nature and could light up a room like a lightning flash in a thunderstorm—you knew…