Bluff Fort #Utah #visitUtah #wildwest

The original Bluff Fort has been rebuilt and lovingly restored through the efforts of the Hole in the Rock Foundation (www.HIRF.org) and is open to visitors free of charge. You can learn more about why the pioneers came to Bluff and their arduous journey over the Hole-in-the Rock trail.

One of the original cabins, the Barton Cabin, may still be seen at the Bluff Fort. You will also find one of the original wagons used in the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition. Replicas of the original log cabins and the Meetinghouse have been constructed to give the visitor a glimpse of pioneer life on the San Juan in the 1880’s. A replica of the Co-op Store was completed in 2013 and serves as the Visitors Center and Gift Shop. Admission is free.

Location:
Bluff Fort
550 East Black Locust
Bluff, UT 84512
T: 435-672-9995

Hole-in-the-Rock Trail
Bluff, the first Anglo community in southeastern Utah, 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. 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.

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 (Glen Canyon National Recreation Center). Brothers Hyram and Benjamin Perkins had experience using explosives from their days as miners in Wales, and were put in charge of drilling and blasting to make a path for wagon passage.

Most of the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail is still visible and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Two sites on the Hole in the Rock Trail are part of present-day Bears Ears National Monument, Shash Jaa Unit.

By April 1880, the pioneers were too exhausted to continue to their intended destination 20 miles upriver and chose to settle along a flat area in the river valley. Calling the new location Bluff City, the pioneers began dividing the land, building log cabins, and digging a ditch from the river for crop irrigation.
In 1879-80, Mormon pioneers built a wagon road between established communities in southwestern Utah and the Four Corners area. They were fulfilling an assignment from their church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to establish a settlement in the area. Their journey turned into an ordeal of unparalleled difficulty as they blazed a route across some of the most broken and rugged terrain in North America.
#Bluff #Fort #Historic #Site #utah #vistiutah #wildwest