Moab - Utah - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

"MOAB, 31.9 m. (4,042 alt., 883 pop.), seat of Grand County, is the commercial center of an extensive sheep and cattle country, and since 1930 has achieved importance as a point of departure for scenic attractions in southeastern Utah. Though isolated it has a small business district, selling everything from hay and gasoline to malted milk and liquor - the only "legal" liquor in the county. Squat red adobe houses stand neighbor to more pretentious firebrick houses. In the evening neon lights illuminate the business district, but after midnight, except on Saturdays, the town does a complete "blackout."

--- Utah. A Guide to the State, 1941

Moab was settled around 1855, by a mission of forty Mormons in the Elk Mountains. After a short period of peace, the settlers abandonded the mission, driven out by Indian attacks.

The next settlers of the area were cattle ranchers, George and Silas Green, who brought 400 head of cattle into the valley in 1875. Record has it they were killed by Indians. After many tumultuous years of fighting between whites and Indians, the Indians were driven back to the reservations.

Moab saw its greatest success during the uranium boom of the early to mid 1900s, but by 1980 the mining discontinued. This small town embraced the beauty and adventure in the local terrain and has become a popular destination for adrenaline junkies and tourists of all types.

Canyonlands, the largest National Park in Utah is just to the south of Moab. Iconic Arches National Park, just 5 miles north of Moab, will burn memoriesof red rock into your dreams for years to come. The infamous, and seemingly dangerous Slick Rock Bike Trail draws mountain bikers from every corner of the globe. And you cannot beat Moab for the most spectacular, exciting off-road adventures ever.