Days of Old

A few years ago I ordered a used copy of My Canyonlands by Kent Frost. It arrived with some neat memorabilia that wasn't mentioned in the online listing when I bought it.

Inside was a letter from Merrill A. Miller from Sierra Madre, California, postmarked in 1971, to Dr. & Mrs. George Plain of South Bend, Indiana. Enclosed was a September 1953 photo of Kent Frost's first commercial jeep trip into Canyonlands National Park, in Salt Creek. The back of the photo lists the people from L-R: Sally Borden, Naomi Heald, Tad Nichols, Kent Frost, Fern Frost, Mary Beckwith, Frank Wright, Joe Muench, and Merrill Miller.

Also in the book was a 1970 brochure for Canyonlands National Park, printed before the Maze District was added to the park the following year.

I was happy to pay $15 for just the book, but the stuff inside was a nice bonus!


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I have a road map published in 1958. Of course roadmaps were not meant to show all the details but it is interesting to see the way it was back then pre Lake Powell. On my screen it helps to zoom in a little. Does anyone know why the Utah/Colorado border slants or shifts near La Sal ? That has been bugging me for years.Old Utah Map.jpeg
 
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I have a road map published in 1958. Of course roadmaps were not meant to show all the details but it is interesting to see the way it was back then pre Lake Powell. On my screen it helps to zoom in a little. Does anyone know why the Utah/Colorado border slants or shifts near La Sal ? That has been bugging me for years.View attachment 87784

That *is* very curious. I had no idea. It's also curious that the town marked as "Paradox" seems to be right in line with the border below. Coincidence?
 
It's also curious that the town marked as "Paradox" seems to be right in line with the border below. Coincidence?

The town is to the right of the name, about where the last 'O' in Montrose is. I don't believe it's marked on the state line.
 
The town is to the right of the name, about where the last 'O' in Montrose is. I don't believe it's marked on the state line.

yeah that's what I mean. The town is located such that if the border with Colorado continued directly north rather than jog to the west Paradox would be a border town.
 
In 1988 we were backpacking down Collins Spring into Grand Gulch. We were living in San Diego, and I had borrowed my Dad's beat up Volvo station wagon to drive to Utah. When we arrived at the trailhead there was a woman there who was pretty glad to see us. She introduced herself, her name was Jean Akens, and she ran the Edge of the Cedars Museum in Blanding. She said she had been there for a couple of days as her truck would not start, she waiting for someone to show up. She was about out of food, and was getting ready to hike the 7 miles back to hwy 95, which she wasn't psyched to do. She asked us if we would loan her my car to drive back to Blanding to get a mechanic, and I said ok. A week later we came back to the trailhead to happily find the Volvo, with this book on the front seat. I was jonseing for the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie I had left, but she ate it.


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A book my Grandmother gave me from 1958. Lot's of happy white people enjoying our national treasures. Cool cars, cowboy hats and checkered flannel shirts. I did not not try to open up the maps in the folder in the back, as they are 61 years old. It's one of my favorite books.

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This looks a little sketchy:

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My mom used to wear a kind of big bandana on her head like that:

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