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Arizona, Mormon Settlement to 1921 |
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there is
possibility of approach to the river by wagon at Diamond Creek, but the
first real crossing lies immediately below the great Canyon at Grand
Wash, a point where there was ferrying, in 1862, by Hamblin and a party
who brought a boat from Kanab. Return on this expedition was via the Ute
ford. Hamblin, with Lewis Greeley, crossed again at the Grand Wash in
April, 1863, and there is record of a later trip of indefinite date, made
by him on the river from Grand Wash to Callville, in company with Crosby
and Miller. Several of the Hamblin expeditions crossed at Grand Wash in
the years thereafter, but it appears that it was not until December,
1876, that a regular ferry there was established, this by Harrison
Pearce. The place bears the name of Pearce's Ferry unto this day, though
the maps give it as "Pierce." A son of Harrison Pearce, and former
assistant in the operation of the ferry, James Pearce, was the first
settler of Taylor on Silver Creek, Arizona, where he still resides.
The next ferry was at the mouth of the Virgin, where there were boats for
crossing at necessity, including the time when President Brigham Young
and party visited the locality, in March, 1870. When the settlers on the
Muddy and the Virgin balloted upon the proposition of abandoning the
country, Daniel Bonelli and wife were the only ones who voted the
negative. When the Saints left southern Nevada, Bonelli and wife moved to
a point about six miles below the mouth of the Virgin, and there
established a ferry that still is owned by a son of the founder. This is
the same noted on government maps as Stone's Ferry, though there has been
a change of a few miles in location. About |
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Arizona, Mormon Settlement to 1921. Family Tree Legends Records Collection (Online Database). Pearl Street Software, 2004-2005. Mormon Settlement in Arizona
A Record of Peaceful Conquest of the Desert. McClintock, James H.. |
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