The Dan O Laurie Museum

Southeastern Utah is renowned for its spectacular landscape and Its archaeological wonders. The Moab area is rich In history as well. The museum offers many exhibits that will help you understand and appreciate all that you will see in the area.Moab Valley Is a collapsed salt anticline. It was formed when the thick layer of salt underlying more recent formations dissolved, resulting in the collapse of those formations. Graphic displays show the evolution of a salt valley, the Moab fault and the stratigraphy of the region. The paleontology exhibit includes dinosaur tracks and a dinosaur femur.For many centuries, the Archaic peoples, followed by the Anasazi and Fremont, lived here, leaving behind their earthen pit houses and intriguing rock art.Prehistoric tools, textiles, pottery, and jewelry are on display, as well as a model pit house and a large burden basket discovered In Moab Valley by three teenagers In 1990. There is also a display of Ute artifacts, including rare ceramic pieces.During the 1950s, Moab was the center of a uranium boom. The mining and mineralogy exhibits explaln where uranium is found and how deposits are formed, show the minerals found in the Moab area, and display historic miring tools.The Pierson History Hall contains artifacts of historic Moab. Here you can see a map of the Old Spanish Trail, railroad relics, a 1907 Moab kitchen, early blacksmith tools, and the switchboard that handled all telephone calls until the 1950s.