From the Past - October 5, 2026

90 years ago
CCC camp notes: Several people find it difficult to understand what the CCC boys are talking about. Therefore, we submit the following as an aid to eavesdroppers in order to make it more convenient for them: greaseball is a truckdriver, stiffy is a cigarette, sawdust is tobacco, blanket is cigarette papers, firestick is a match, dog kennels are shoes, bush batty is crazy, chow is dinner, pill pusher is a doctor, louie is a lieutenant, sin-buster is a minister, rake is a comb, and nertz is nertz.
80 years ago
Mr. and Mrs. Uriah Butt and son Calvin move to Blanding for the winter so Calvin can attend San Juan High. Dorothy Butt, who has been employed in the Chas. Redd home at La Sal during the summer, will attend college again. • Kirk Nielson left for Pocatello, ID where he will attend the University of Idaho to major in pharmacy.
70 years ago
Picket lines are established at the Mexican Hat mill site by Navajo laborers. Craftsmen working for Sterns-Rogers Construction Company honor the Navajo strike, causing a complete shutdown on the new multimillion-dollar Texas-Zinc Uranium mill.
60 years ago
Rex J. Harvey Construction Company of Blanding is the low bidder on the county’s proposed long-term care facility to be constructed in Blanding. • Skiers are urged to help groom the course for early skiing.
50 years ago
Captain Stephen L. Jensen is selected “Instructor Pilot of the Year.” • Members of the 508th TAC Clinic at the Hill Air Force Base spend a week in San Juan County doing physical examinations on several hundred school children.
40 years ago
Joel R. Tate of Blanding is nominated as the outstanding Male Public employee for the State of Utah. • Artwork by Navajo children who live on the Utah Strip of the Reservation is selected for an exhibit shown in Utah over the next two years.
30 years ago
San Juan Health Care Board sets strategies for the future, including entering into a management contract with Southwest Health Systems, following the Space Diagnostics strategic plan if American SurgiCare does not build in Blanding, monitoring services provided by American SurgiCare in Blanding, and reducing health care services in Blanding as American SurgiCare provides adequate coverage.
20 years ago
Monticello Cemetery Board acknowledges Trey Esplin for the beautiful iron ‘Monticello Cemetery’ sign that he made and erected as part of his Eagle Project. • Letter to the Editor: “If you noticed the many rigs loaded with ATVs in our towns last week it was because of our annual ATV Safari. Despite the cold, windy weather, all of the participants expressed their joy in riding the fantastic trails we offer here in San Juan County.”
10 years ago
Representatives of Armstrong Consultants appear before the Monticello City Council in anticipation of an Open House Fly-In at the new Monticello Airport. • Two San Juan County legends were recently inducted into the Utah Cowboy Hall of Fame. Charles Redd and John Albert Scorup were inducted in the first class of emeritus members of the Hall of Fame. • Monticello residents Shirley and the late JJ Stefan are enshrined in the Utah Horseshoe Pitchers Hall of Fame for “outstanding skill and service to the sport of horseshoe pitching.”