Government Rapid on the San Juan River isn’t just misnamed, it’s in the wrong place! The name is based on a supposed boat accident that occurred during the 1921 USGS Trimble Survey of the river. We know it is located somewhere downstream of the Goosenecks portion of the river canyons and upstream of Slickhorn Canyon, but where exactly remained a question in 1956 when Otis “Dock” Marston asked Kenny Ross – “where exactly is Government Rapid?”
The concept of “place attachment” has come up in this column before, but I’ve never really shared much about my own connection to canyon country or to southeast Utah in particular. My people on my dad’s side came to San…
If you were to meet Bud Frazier for the first time, he would introduce himself by saying, “Yá’át’ééh shí éí Bud yíníshyé’. Tł’ízí łání nishłį́. Hooghan łání báshíshchíín. Hi, my Navajo clan is Many Goats born for Many Hogans.” Bud…
This article first appeared in the Utah Historical Quarterly, and is reprinted with the permission of the author. Click Here to Read Parts 1 and 2… To assess the effect of national environmental discussions on road access in the Needles…
This article first appeared in the Utah Historical Quarterly, and is reprinted with the permission of the author. Click Here to Read Part 1… [Bates] Wilson had originally conceived a Canyonlands in which access would be substantially by jeep and…
My grandfather, Hayden, was a soft-spoken Baptist who grew up in south Texas during a period when converts were taken to a muddy creek and, well, dunked “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.”…
This article first appeared in the Utah Historical Quarterly, and is reprinted with the permission of the author. Canyonlands National Park, established in 1964, is the largest national park in Utah and was the first new national park formed in…
Political clout of newly empowered Navajo Democrats helps defeat a proposal to study change of San Juan County (Utah) government “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” Thomas Jefferson to Richard Price, 1789 Many…
Note: This story is reprinted with permission from Bill Keshlear and “Bears Ears Divide.” It first appeared HERE. (The following has been updated to include comments of Rep. Phil Lyman, R-District 73. Also, in a recorded phone conversation Juan Palma…
Author’s Note: In the last few months I have talked with several people who have some misunderstandings about commission districting in this county. They felt it might be good if I wrote something to give a little background regarding this…