Wool won the economy of Cisco, Utah, in the early years of the 20th century

Buzzard’s Belly General Store in Cisco, Utah, can be a hopping place in the summer and fall when river rafters, mountain bikers and off-roaders stop for refreshments.

But much of the time it is quiet at the store, the only commercial outlet in Cisco these days. It is a far cry from the early years of the 20th century, when, according to Moab’s Grand Valley Times, Cisco was “quite a lively little town.”

There were 172 people residing in Cisco in 1900, and that nearly doubled to 323 residents a decade later. Also, each spring the population boomed with itinerant workers who lived in tents.

Prior to World War I, there was excitement about a possible copper discovery near Cisco. Vanadium was found, a precursor to the uranium boom that would drive the economy half a century later. The first