Behold Western Colorado's "Miss Atomic Energy" and her attendants, plopped down on a filthy pile of highly toxic uranium ore. Take a trip back in time to Grand Junction of the past with these Bob Grant photos of local beauty queens and pageant contestants.

For your viewing pleasure, we have a collection of photos including everything from the 4-H Queen of 1949, to the Cripple Creek Queen, to the Fruita Queen. All photos were taken by late Daily Sentinel photographer Robert Grant.

Regrettably, my grandpa rarely wrote anything down on his prints. As a consequence, seventy-some years later, I have no way of identifying those pictured. One of my agendas with these posts involves tracking down the identities of those featured in the photos. To date, I've had pretty good luck.

Please enjoy this brief retrospective of Western Colorado's pageants of the past.

FLASHBACK: Beauty Pageant Contestants of Western Colorado

Personally, I get a kick out of the "4-H Queen" and the "Miss Atomic Energy." It's amazing how little things have changed. Even today, we have several pageants resulting in the "Rodeo Queen" and such. Please look through the photos carefully and see if you recognize anyone. Perhaps you can shed a little light on the history of these images.

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