HEALTHWATCH: Charlie Steen, The "Uranium King" (Sad Story)
Bill Schenley
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1891877,00.html
MOAB - Mark and Andy Steen were towheaded youngsters living
in a tar-paper shack in the Utah desert in 1952 when their
father discovered the richest uranium vein in the world.
Their dad became the "Uranium King," and they were swept
into a kingdom of sudden, fabulous wealth that would bring
them the proverbial mansion on the hill, the private planes,
the maids and anything else once-hungry, barefoot boys could
imagine.
That wealth, which grew to $130 million, also splintered a
family, building acrimony between Mark and Andy and among
mothers, sisters, aunts and grandchildren. The family
feuding has only grown more spiteful now that much of the
fortune has been lost and the "king" - Charlie Steen - is
incapacitated by Alzheimer's disease and living in a Fort
Collins assisted-living center.
The latest in a three-decade-long string of lawsuits and
legal wrangling between Steen family members played out in a
Moab courtroom this week as Mark and Andy battled each other
over what is left of Charlie's fortune.
Andy, 55, sued Mark, 53, claiming that each of Charlie
Steen's four sons is entitled to an equal share of the
family's remaining assets - an amount he estimates at $12
million. He claims Mark depleted most of the Steen wealth
through fraud and mismanagement of the family company, Mi
Vida Enterprises.
Mark countersued Andy, claiming Andy's malicious meddling in
the family business has cost Mi Vida $10 million.
After three acrimonious days in a Grand County courtroom,
the brothers agreed to a settlement that will give Andy
$165,000 in return for dropping all other claims to Mi Vida
assets. Andy termed the amount "pathetic."
The settlement also requires the brothers not to defame,
slander or libel the other. The brothers nonetheless had
strong words for each other after the proceedings ended.
"He's crazy," Mark said of Andy outside the courtroom.
"He's a thief," Andy said of Mark.
"This case is sadly - very sadly - Shakespearean in nature,"
said District Judge Lyle Anderson after presiding over the
case. "It's kind of a sad chapter at the end of the life of
someone who is a legend around here."
A life-changing discovery
Charlie Steen, 84, became that legend and a Cold War hero
when he discovered uranium ore in the desert southeast of
Moab, an area written off as not promising by the Atomic
Energy Commission and other prospectors. He had been digging
futilely for two years and was so broke at the time that he
was using borrowed equipment and supporting his wife and
four young sons in their Cisco, Utah, shack on hope, poached
game and beans.
He told folks he was ready to give up the day he broke a
drill bit while pulling sample cores from the desert floor
southeast of Moab. But the samples set the needle of a
Geiger counter in motion, and life for the Steen family and
the town of Moab was also spun in a drastic new direction.
Steen's strike in a black uranium ore vein made the Steen
family $60 million in the first year. Steen became a
rags-to-riches celebrity, inspiring two movies and a number
of books about his discovery. Moab ballooned from 1,000
residents to about 7,000 within four years. Magazines dubbed
it "The Uranium Capital of the World" and "The Richest Town
in the USA."
Steen built a mill in the town. Today, the legacy of that
defunct mill is a 10.5-million-ton pile of tailings that is
a giant cleanup headache for the federal government. He
developed Steenville, a housing development for workers.
Today, it is a pleasant neighborhood where people who have
barely heard of Charlie Steen have settled their young
families. The mansion Charlie built for his family on a hill
overlooking Moab is now a restaurant. It looks out over a
town that prefers to bill itself as the "mountain biking
capital of the world" rather than the uranium capital.
But legends of the Steens' uranium-heyday lifestyle still
float around town. Folks have heard how Charlie built the
largest swimming pool in the state at his home; how he would
fly his family around over Moab to watch favorite TV shows
because reception was poor on the ground; how he inspired
and played in an episode of "I Love Lucy," in which Lucy
tries to persuade Ricky to prospect for uranium.
Behind that life of excess, of celebrity hobnobbing and
constant jet-setting, Charlie Steen's sister, Maxine Steen
Boyd, said things weren't right with the Steen children.
That, she said, is partly what led to the latest trial.
"Those kids weren't raised right," said Boyd, now 82 and
living in Elmo, Utah.
She said Charlie and his wife, Minnie Lee, who died in 1997,
were preoccupied with their new life and that the kids were
often left in Boyd's care or in the care of maids. As an
example of their benign neglect, she said, Andy, who threw
fits of rage, was relegated to a trailer outside the mansion
when he was 13 so he wouldn't disturb the rest of the
household.
The boys also suffered when the IRS seized Mi Vida
properties in 1968 for nonpayment of taxes. The uranium boom
had died. And Charlie had either been given bad advice or
not listened to good advice in his business dealings, his
old friends say. The bankruptcy proceedings would drag out
for 11 years, and by the end of that time, the interfamily
animosity would be deeply ingrained.
Issues among the siblings
The sometimes-odd problems within the Steen family became
painfully apparent after the bankruptcy.
Andy went to live in Spain and write books about Arabian
horses. He once was declared legally dead by his son after
he disappeared and failed to communicate with family members
for more than two years.
Charles Steen Jr. grew morbidly obese and is housebound
somewhere in the Los Angeles area, according to family
members and friends.
Johnny Steen, who family members say has a mental handicap,
had been living with and caring for his father until Charlie
was moved into the assisted-living center last year.
Mark continued to manage Charlie's affairs and the family
business, which consists of mining ventures and real-estate
holdings.
Family and friends have aligned themselves with various
brothers in the lawsuits. Some say Mark should control the
family's assets. Others, who favor Andy, call Mark a
shyster.
When the trial was over, Andy said he has often wondered
what the Steen family would have been like if Charlie had
never hit that vein of uranium-rich ore.
"I think we would have just had normal pains like any other
family," he said. "But when the money came, everything went
to hell."
The brothers are slated to meet in court again later this
month in Boulder in a battle over Charlie's guardianship.
Andy has accused Mark of not taking proper care of Charlie.
Mark states that Andy shouldn't be allowed around Charlie
because of Andy's "instability."
Judge Anderson could only shake his head over it all.
"I find myself wondering if there was a time in the Cisco
shack when a gentle word was exchanged," the judge said.
---
Also, see:
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jan/01122004/utah/128312.asp
http://www.moabhappenings.com/Archives/pioneer0307.htm
And:
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Aug/08042003/utah/81085.asp
Bob Flaminio
> That wealth, which grew to $130 million, also splintered a
> family, building acrimony between Mark and Andy and among
>
> Steen built a mill in the town. Today, the legacy of that
> defunct mill is a 10.5-million-ton pile of tailings that is
> a giant cleanup headache for the federal government.
I wonder who's paying for that cleanup. I think I know what to do with
all that money...
--
Bob
Hoodude
'Sheen'.