Lonely Dell Ranch

Lonely Dell Ranch. . For more than 100 years, Lonely Dell Ranch has meant different things to those who traveled here. To pioneers and missionaries, it was an isolated settlement offering small comfort during a long journey further south. To the families who lived here, the ranch was the centerpiece of daily life, requiring constant hard work to tame the rugged yet beautiful desert. For others it offered employment or trade in a hardscrabble setting. And for later owners it promised rustic peace and quiet. , , From a lonely outpost to recreational enjoyment, Lonely Dell Ranch still serves its simplest purpose as a place for a traveler to rest, enjoy nature, and bask in the shade of the trees. , , A Homesteading Mission , Jacob Hamblin, a missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, successfully crossed the Colorado River near here in 1864. Seeing the location’s importance to the settlement of Arizona, Hamblin recommended his church leaders establish a river crossing. Over the years, three Mormon families - the Lees, Johnsons, and Emetts - were sent to homestead and run the busy river crossing which became known as Lees Ferry. , , (photo caption) Lead ferryman Warren Johnson and family on the steps of their home at Lonely Dell Ranch, 1892