He just stepped out for a pack of cigarettes… It’s been a while since I’ve heard anyone say it, even as a joke. The echo of a father who slipped out the door and never came home. The legacy of…
How to Disappear …by Tonya Audyn Morton
REVISITING “JULY 4, 1961: MURDER & THE ENDURING MYSTERY at DEAD HORSE POINT” …by Jim Stiles
…and on writing a significantly expanded update of that story. Last April, after a year trying to collect as much publicly available information as I could find, I started to write what ultimately became a 10,000 word account of one of Grand County’s most brutal crimes,…
Some Things You Have Heard Before (and some you haven’t) …by Damon Falke
A is for Amy who fell down the stairsB is for Basil assaulted by bears –Edward Gorey When the apple was ready she painted her face and clothed herself like a peasant woman, and went across the seven mountains to…
The Culture of Narcissism at 40 …by Stacy Young
It has become common among people who have the good fortune of being both affluent and self-aware to be ashamed of their pain. After all, what could possibly justify feelings of depression or anxiety among those of us who live…
VISIONS AND VOICES…AND DREAMS …by Jim Stiles
LATE NIGHT VISITS FROM HERB RINGER & BILL BENGE…Was it just a dream? If there is one inexplicable thing in our lives, it must surely be the dreams we all experience almost every night as we lay our heads on…
Two Four Corners Reservoirs Meet the Big Drought… Story and Photos by Will Mahoney
Two months ago, the Zephyr published my photo-illustrated article focusing on the effects of the current drought in the Colorado River Basin. My photos from Lake Powell, the Blue Mesa Reservoir, and the Paonia Reservoir showed the dramatic effects of…
THE OPEN ROAD: Remembrance …Words and Photos by Paul Vlachos
For me, the 21st Century did not begin at the Baggott Inn, where I played three sets of music with a reggae band on the night of New Year’s Eve, 1999, or Y2K, as we called it. It began on…
Coyote Tales of the Kayenta Navajos …By Harvey Leake
Found among the papers of my great-grandmother, Louisa Wade Wetherill (1877-1945), was a stack of Navajo stories she had translated, transcribed, and preserved. Living with the People for most of her adult life, Louisa greatly respected their character, insights, wisdom,…
(Still) ‘Enough Rope’: THURSDAY …By Bill Davis
For most of my time at The Times, Thursdays were my “wind-down” days, the one day in the week when I could relax a bit from production pressure, research my much-loved (by me, at any rate) Looking Backward column, and…
THOUGHTS ON WHITE PRIVILEGE, CAMPING, ALVIN YORK & MARY FLOYD …by Jim Stiles
Is there a racist component in camping? Or is it a question of common sense? For a “white boy” who grew up middle class in the South, in the midst of the civil rights movement, I thought I had seen…
(POKING THROUGH THE RUINS #2) La Sal Junction …by Jim Stiles
Yet another local landmark was recently torn down and wiped from the face of the Earth. Recently, for me, at least. In August, Tonya and I were driving to Moab from Monticello, on US 191, for the first time in a few…
ZEPHYR AMERICA: Charles Kreischer on Utah Highway 95 in 1959…
Our regular readers know that we began a new project at the Zephyr last year–called “Zephyr America.” We’ve been slowly wading through the massive Zephyr archives of historic photos and digitizing them to share with our readers. To keep up…
Herb Ringer’s American West: ALPINE TUNNEL, COLORADO
Herb Ringer was an avid devotee of Rail History. He maintained a vast library of books on the topic, particularly on the rail lines of the Rocky Mountains. In the 60s and 70s he traveled regularly to the important sites…
POINTBLANK: UFO CONFESSIONS …by Alan Cornette
I would speculate that most humans, especially those who have lived their lives in jobs requiring any type of secrecy, arrive at a place in old age or near death where they would like to divulge some of those secrets.…
HANK SCHMIDT’S MONTHLY REPORT: Arches National Monument, October 1941
October 22, 1941 Travel this month, 234 Travel to date, 234 Weather Local weather records show this October to have been the wettest in more than 40 years. Precipitation since October 1st is 3.78 inches. This is compared to 2.18…
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The August/September Issue of the Zephyr!
In This Issue… Take it or Leave it: FUTURE “FIRES”… A LONG HELD PERSONAL VIEW …by Jim Stiles Life on the Prairie …by Tonya Audyn Stiles THE PACK CREEK FIRE: THE UGLY, THE BAD & THE GOOD …by Jim Stiles…
Take it or Leave it: FUTURE “FIRES”… A LONG HELD PERSONAL VIEW …by Jim Stiles
Acknowledging that we have committed to climate catastrophe is not paralysis. Life is still rich after you accept that it will end. —– Tim De Christopher, April 27, 2018 Whether the recent Pack Creek fire outside Moab was the product…
Life on the Prairie …by Tonya Morton
“When I was a schoolboy my map of the United States showed between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains a long and broad white blotch, upon which was printed in small capitals ‘THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT – UNEXPLORED.’” —…
THE PACK CREEK FIRE: THE UGLY, THE BAD & THE GOOD …by Jim Stiles
Late in the afternoon of June 9, 2021, heavy smoke was reported along upper Pack Creek in San Juan County, just upstream from Pack Creek Ranch. As the fire began to move rapidly down the creek bed, the historic ranch and its…
The Slovenly Wilderness: Pioneers Old and New …by Stacy Young
There were a number of well-considered reader responses to the essay I wrote a couple of issues ago about the accelerating effect of Covid on growth in southern Utah. Some of the comments extended the conversation in new and interesting…