Grand County s story begins long before the first white settlers entered the valley. The land holds ruins, artifacts, and remnants of many ancient peoples, including Ute, Navajo, Anasazi, and others. Spanish missionaries who were seeking gold as much as souls were followed by French fur traders into the mid-1800s, and the end of the Mexican American War in 1848 brought the land to be known as Grand County into the Union. Soon, the valley was teeming with settlers. In 1880, the name Moab appeared in the US Postal Register; it was chosen by William Peirce, a businessman who became the town s...

Grand County's story begins long before the first white settlers entered the valley. The land holds ruins, artifacts, and remnants of many ancient peoples, including Ute, Navajo, Anasazi, and others. Spanish missionaries--who were seeking gold as much as souls--were followed by French fur traders into the mid-1800s, and the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 brought the land to be known as Grand County into the Union. Soon, the valley was teeming with settlers. In 1880, the name "Moab" appeared in the US Postal Register; it was chosen by William Peirce, a businessman who became the...