Beautiful Bluff Utah.
This is a very small town and honestly, there isn't much to do here. It's absolutely gorgeous here though. The town is surrounded on all sides by steep, shear cliffs of sandstone formed and molded by time and elements. Ahhhhh. We feel happy and calm here.
This is our RV Park. I love the owners. They are so kind and accommodating. And it's not expensive to stay here!!
Here are a few pictures from my run today.
After school, my dad, Taj and I went for a short walk. Here are pictures from our walk.
Our adventure today surprised me. As I was running, I saw a sign that said, "Historical Site" on it. The site was called Bluff Fort. Since there wasn't anything else to do here, I planned on taking the kids there. Honestly, I thought it was going to be lame. I fully anticipated us to be at the fort for 5 minutes, be bored and leave. It was quite the opposite!!!
Here is the front of the main meeting house.
My parents came to the fort with us. We all walked in and immediately were sucked in to the spirit of this place. The first thing we did was watch a video that explained the What? Why? When and How? of this fort.
This is what we learned:
Back in 1880, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was John Taylor. President Taylor organized the last wagon train expedition to the unchartered most southern right corner of Utah, or now known as Bluff, Utah. The company of the expedition included 43 men, 29 women, 120 children and 66 people who didn't land in Bluff Utah. There were 83 wagons, 200 draft animals and 1800 loose stock that went as well. This expedition was planned to take 6 weeks. In the end, it took these people 6 months to finally get to Bluff, Utah. Why??? Unexpected harsh terrain.
The travelers left from Cedar City, Utah and followed a well established trail to Escalante, Utah. There, they were left on their own to blaze a new trial. Scouts went out first to find the best way for the wagons to travel. About 65 miles out from Escalante, the scouts returned and reported that the terrane ahead was so harsh and deadly that it's not even acceptable for birds to fly over it. They had found sheer cliffs near the Colorado River. As the pioneers approached the deadly terrane, they found themselves on top of a 4,329 foot cliff. There was no way to get 83 wagons down to the river and in the right direction. The scouts then followed the cliffs until they found a "Hole" in the cliff. This hole is now called The Hole in the Rock. The wagon train spent 6 weeks blasting and digging the hole in the canyon to make it possible to drive the wagons down the mountain. CRAZY RIGHT? I was so enveloped at this point of the story.
The end product was a 1,800 foot descent to the Colorado River. The steepest slope was 45 degrees and the average slope was 25 degrees. With God, the entire party descended the slope safely with no casualties. Can you imagine the strength both body and mind it took from these people?? We were in awe!!
After the crazy descent in the Hole in the Rock, they still had 120 miles left to traverse to get to Bluff, Utah. The last 120 miles were just as hard. They had descended one mountain, which meant that they had to ascend another one. After making safe trails for their wagons, they arrived in Bluff, Utah to settle the town.
The Historical Site had many examples of how they lived in Bluff. One family of 8 lived in their wagon that they had traveled in, for four years.
One thing to take away from this is that if it's God's will, it WILL happen!!! Have Faith!!!
Hand carts were placed for the kids to pull them and race with them.
Bahhh hahahahah!!!
President John Taylor
An example of a wagon that families lived in.
Mining for Gold!!
We bought ice cream and cookies and a magnet from them.
This wagon was an original. It came down the Hole in the Rock.
Just above the fort, we found an old cemetery for these pioneers.
It was definitely laundry day. The dirty clothes had piled up enough that my mom, Graham and I went to the local laundry mat. This was the very first time that I have been to a "local" laundry mat. I usually go to the campground laundry rooms but our campground doesn't have one. I wish my washer/dryer was fixed:)))
What a cool place! Did the settlement ever amount to much? Did the people stay faithful? Was it a stage stop? What is the population now? I think I remember reading a novel about a party that traversed that area and ran into the unexpected problem of wagons and cliffs.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about your washer/dryer. Hope they are fixed soon.