From Cortez to Monument Valley; June 16; 2018

On the drive from Cortez to Monument Valley we visited Four Corners and Bluff Fort. The Four Corners is the place where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. Bluff Fort is the place for an early Mormon settlement build as a fort.

The Four Corners National Monument is inside the Navajo Nation and it is an obvious place for some commercial activities.

The Four Corners National Monument is the only place in the United States where you can be in four different states at the same time.

Hole in the Rock Foundation; Bluff Fort Visitor Center The Hole-in-the-Rock Foundation was organized to facilitate the ongoing development of the Bluff Fort Historic Site and interpretive projects throughout the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail. A collection of biographies, journals, and histories convey the story of early pioneer life and the sacrifices, conviction, and determination of the pioneers who established a community in one of the most remote regions of the West.

Painting Mormon pioneers descend the hole they had blasted into the rock. The Hole in the Rock Expedition Leaving their homes east of the Mississippi River because of religious persecution, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) began arriving in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847. By the 1870s, they had expanded settlements into the southern portions of what is today the state of Utah. Few Mormon families, however, were living in the region east of the Colorado River, and the area was void of any major settlement. In order to establish a stronger foothold, the Mormon Church organized the San Juan mission to select a site for settlement in the region. A portion of the group camped at the top of the Hole-in-the-Rock, a narrow crack in the canyon rim 2.5 miles (4 km) downstream from the mouth of the Escalante River. It was through this notch that the party intended to make its way. Throughout the winter, they worked on the crack, enlarging the opening. Work was slow and tedious. At last, on January 26, 1880, the expedition made its way slowly down the precarious road. A ferry built at the river by Charles Hall and others was used to cross the river. The Hole-in-the-Rock Road continued to be used as the primary link between Bluff and the established settlements to the west for several years. It was eventually abandoned in favor of a better route. A journey that was to have taken six weeks took six months instead. Painting: https://www.nps.gov/glca/learn/historyculture/holeintherock.htm

San Juan Settlement, Bluff. Once across the river, the pioneers discovered that their problems had only just begun. Through a rough, perilous, uncharted wilderness the group made its way. Remarkably, no lives were lost. In fact, two babies were born. After long months of hard work and deprivation, the party reached the San Juan River. The weary travelers founded their new home at the current site of Bluff, Utah. The settlement was called Bluff Fort as it was built as a fort, for protection against attacks from ingenious tribes (Indians).

Inside a Cabin. Bluff, was settled in April 1880 by Mormon pioneers seeking to establish a mission on the San Juan River in the present-day Four Corners area. The San Juan area of southeastern Utah was then known as a refuge for lawless men. The San Juan Mission would act as a buffer for the rest of settled Utah, establish law and order, and maintain friendly relations with the Indians in the area. A “mission call” went out in December 1878 and was answered by numerous southern Utah families, many of whom gave up fine homes to move with all their possessions to the remote San Juan area. The river valley appeared to offer good farmland. Calling the new location Bluff City, the pioneers began dividing the land into lots, building log cabins and digging an irrigation ditch from the river to irrigate fields.

The remains of an original Cabin. Seventy families consisting of around 250 men, women and children, left Escalante in south central Utah in October 1879 intending to establish the mission at Montezuma on the San Juan River. Using a route advised by a previous scouting party known as the “Escalante short cut”, the pioneers expected the 125 mile trek would take 6 weeks. Instead, the journey extended 260 miles over 6 months via the Hole-in-the-Rock-Trail in arduous, winter conditions.

Reconstruction of the school of the settlement. Historians consider the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition one of the most extraordinary wagon trips ever undertaken in North America and a fine example of pioneer spirit. Many sections of the trail were almost impassable. To allow wagon passage, the men spent 6 weeks blasting and chiseling a path through a narrow, 1,200 foot drop in the sandstone cliffs known as the Hole-in-the-Rock, which is still visible at present day Lake Powell. Crossing Comb Ridge proved to be another grueling part of the journey, requiring yet another dugway to be built up the face of the solid rock Comb Ridge. The pioneers named this “San Juan Hill”. By April 1880, most of wagons had pulled onto the flat river bottom near Bluff. Although the intended destination, Montezuma Creek, was less than 20 miles upstream, the expedition was too exhausted to continue.

Goulding’s Lodge dates back to 1921 when Harry Goulding and his bride Leone (nicknamed Mike) purchased 640 acres of property here. They operated a trading post for decades. During the depression, Harry sent photographs of the local environs to Western movie director John Ford, who was looking for new places to film. Ford fell in love, and he and actor John Wayne would eventually film many movies here.

The view for our cabin at Goulding’s Lodge.