Hole-in-the-Rock Remembered

Dedicated to the original pioneers of the San Juan Mission in Utah and those who traveled with them. Some went to Montezuma Creek via the south route; others had different destinations in Colorado or Arizona and hoped for a faster route through the “Hole”. We hope you'll be inspired by their stories. Pioneer names are in left column. Many stories are known; however, others are "lost." If you have more information you can share, please contact: 42janetkw@gmail.com

More Books about San Juan County History

1. San Juan County, Utah: People, Resoures, and History by Allan Kent Powell, @1983. Part III
2. A History of San Juan County: In the Palm of Time by Robert McPherson @1995. Chapter 5 starting p. 95
3. Images of America: Early San Juan County by LaVerne Tate, @2008. Great early photos of San Juan
4. Incredible Journey, by Lamont Crabtree @1980
5. Rooted in San Juan @1995 Toni Richard Turk
6. They Came to Grayson, art & history by Kelly Pugh
7 Hyrum Perkins: Pioneer and Pilgrim, by Margaret Perkins Tennity
9. Hearts Afire: At All Hazards by Blaine M. Yorgason @ 1997

Photo identification

A. The Old Swing Tree in Bluff. A favorite meeting place, of adults and children alike. The first church services were held here until a log church was built. It washed away some time after 1894 when the San Juan River jumped its banks and washed out pioneer crops as well as well established trees like this.
B. James Bean Decker was born March 25, 1853 at Parowan, Utah and was one of the outstanding pillars amoung the Bluff pioneers. Anna Marie Mickelsen Decker was born in Cedar City, April 7, 1855. She married James B. Decker July 13, 1874.
C. Amasa Barton who was killed at Rincon. Read his story on this site.
D. Hole in the Rock, the daunting entry into the wilderness trail to Bluff.
E. Kumen Jones in the first Bishopric in Bluff:
F. Jens Nielson, first bishop of Bluff
G. Lemuel H. Redd
H. Barton Cabin in Bluff Today the Barton cabin represents the sole surviving feature of the earliest architecture of Bluff. It retains the integrity of its original location, design, setting, material, workmanship, feeling, and association. It is the cornerstone of the Bluff Fort.
I. Jane Kechnie Walton born 1846 in Edinburgh, Scotland, married Charles Walton 1867, was first San Juan Stake Relief Society President. Killed in tragic accident 1891.
J. San Juan Hill, the final difficult challenge of the Hole in the Rock Trail. Both horses and pioneers were too exhausted to go any further, arriving in Bluff April 6, 1880.
K. Willard Butt. Willard and his brother Parley were both from Parowan. Willard b.1858-d.1919 in Cortez.