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The Canyon Country Zephyr

"Hopelessly Clinging to the Past
(and its History)
Since 1989"

06/01/2026

Jim Stiles had an uncanny knack for tracking down and documenting the recent history of the West.
Hearken back to January 1942 with Hank Schmidt's Arches National Monument Report

Hank Schmidt. Arches National Monument. c/o NPS January 22, 1942 By Henry G Schmidt, Custodian Moab, Utah Travel this month, 63; Travel year to date, 625 Weather The new year of 1942 brought us zero temperatures and cold winds, lasting for 6 days and an abrupt change of weather

31/12/2025

The commemoration of the beginning of WWII was nearly a month ago, but here's an interesting read about that era in history to to take you into 2026.

Happy New Year to all!

"My brother and I are Basque, you know. We came from the Pyrenees before the second world war," Armando explained. "Really," I said. "What did you do when you came over here?" "Well," he replied, "I went to work for the OSS." “The OSS?” I knew what the OSS was...the Office of Strategic Services,

24/12/2025

Are you nostalgic for Christmas past?
Jim Stiles was a close friend of photographer, adventurer and historian Herb Ringer. Ringer spend most of his life capturing images of the West, and his body of work comprises a fascinating 20th Century history of places we all know and love, and hoped would never change.
Merry Christmas!

HERB RINGER came West from his home in New Jersey in 1939. Camera in hand, Herb captured the American West, from the Canadian Border to the Rio Grande and from the Big Sur coast to the High Plains. We believe Herb’s collection of Life in the West is one of the finest. His work has been published i...

24/11/2025

It happened 62 years ago, and it's still important.

The National Geographic story was called “The Last Full Measure,” and was written by its president and editor, Melvin Bell Grosvenor. He began… "His life was such — the radiance he shed —that if we live to be a hundred, we will remember how he graced this earth, and how he left it. Only th...

31/10/2025

This seems fitting for Halloween!

If there were ever a time when we needed an interesting and truly escapist diversion from the realities of 2021 (or 2020 Part B, as it's known to some of us), it's right now. I am starting to take the bumper sticker I plastered across the back of our car last year more seriously--the one that reads:

07/10/2025

Jim Stiles was an explorer, adventurer, historian and storyteller. He probed for the subtext in all things and places. The cemeteries he visited in his many travels revealed perhaps the most poignant subtexts of all.

Nowadays few Americans would even give it a thought —- why is there a tiny cluster of trees in the middle of a featureless plain? We see them all the time. At certain times of the day, we might see an odd white glint of something undefinable. A misplaced rock? An abandoned car? But who cares? We r...

08/09/2025

For many years Jim Stiles waged a philosophical war with "industrial tourism." With tourism waning in southeastern Utah over the last few seasons, some wonder if it will "bust" in a cycle similar to the mining and oil & gas industries. I wish Jim were still around to have this conversation in 2025.

"The problem with the conservation movement is that it has clear conscience." -- Wendell Berry. DISCLAIMER: This story makes no attempt to offer 'solutions', nor do I have any illusions, when considering the Future of Moab, Utah. I am simply trying to record its transformation from a quiet, rur

26/08/2025

Southeastern Utah's wildfire season 2025 has been rough, but wildfire is not a new thing in these lands.

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 decades-old cabins and lodge were at risk, as well as a couple dozen newer

31/07/2025

To date, the Dragon Bravo fire has consumed nearly 100,000 acres of forest and high desert rangeland, countless structures and the historic Grand Canyon Lodge and is at only 9% containment. It has burned nearly one-third of the Kaibab National Forest and is making its way northward to the areas destroyed by the White Sage fire which is now under 83% containment.
Countless Americans and international travelers have marveled at the wonders of the Grand Canyon and its surrounding environments. It is a symbol of the beauty and majesty of the West.
As natural resources, cabins, campgrounds and memories are being consumed by the Dragon Bravo fire, we hearken back to another of the characters Jim Stiles' profiled in the Zephyr.

One of the great characters of the Grand Canyon was Shorty Yarberry. His whole name was George Armstrong Custer ‘Shorty’ Yarberry. He was born on the day of the Battle of the Little Big Horn when Custer was killed. He is buried at the Grand Canyon, right next to the Kolb Brothers, who ran the ph...

27/07/2025

Jim Stiles lived for many years in Monticello, Utah, the heart of Mormon pioneer country. Let's commemorate this year's Pioneer Day with this piece from 2013.

Utah is not like any other state. Some Americans are still not sure Utah is a part of the union, and in its early history, of course, the U.S. Government refused to allow statehood for the land of Deseret. A “wicked place,” some self-righteous Christians complained. Conversely, there are many

14/07/2025

It has been reported that the historic Grand Canyon Lodge burned down today due to a wildfire at the canyon's north rim. Three years ago, Jim Stiles published this piece featuring the remarkable photography of Herb Ringer which recorded the Grand Canyon and its many attractions from 1950-1957. Events such as today's tragic fires make us appreciate the visionary efforts of Herb Ringer and Jim Stiles more than ever.

During the past 34 years, I've mostly limited the range of Herb's photos to the West. But Herb traveled all over America and into Canada. Though this issue starts with a very familiar and beloved location--the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, future editions will expand Herb's work to locations from C

03/07/2025

Jim Stiles' gritty investigative reporting shines in this article recalling the tragic events surrounding Dennise Sullivan's disappearance 64 years ago.

Note: A much shorter version of this article first appeared in the June/July issue. After that piece was published, I was contacted by the granddaughters of Charles Boothroyd and the surviving daughter of Jeannette Sullivan. The information that Carolyn Boothroyd, Linda Boothroyd Lazaroff, and Jean

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