A blacksmith shop with a skilled blacksmith was a necessity. Amasa Barton (Joseph Barton's brother) was kept busy fitting horseshoes, repairing wagons and making , sharpening and repairing everything from farming implement to carpentry tools.
In . . . — — Map (db m95040) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
The Bluff Fort consisted of an arrangement of single-room log cabins with all door and window openings facing the center of the fort. Log fences closed the space between the log cabins. The Barton cabin originally consisted of one room with a dirt . . . — — Map (db m270838) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
Joseph Franklin and Harriet Ann Richards Barton made the difficult journey to Bluff via the Hole-in-the-Rock with baby daughters, ages one and three.
Harriet Ann Richards Barton was a loving and dedicated mother and companion. She was . . . — — Map (db m270835) HM
Upon the pioneers' arrival in the Bluff valley, water for cooking and drinking was carried from the San Juan River. According to Mary Mackelprang Jones, water from the San Juan “O was so hard and muddy cottonwood ashes were put in it to stand . . . — — Map (db m95039) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
Ole Hanson Bayles was a single 21-year-old when he accepted a call to the San Juan Mission. He drove/herded the cattle of the initial five-month-long exploring expedition. Church leaders encouraged the single men to marry before making the remote . . . — — Map (db m270873) HM
On N Pioneer Drive 0.1 miles east of Red Rock Road, on the right when traveling east.
More than eight centuries ago, this hilltop was the location of an important, ancient Pueblo Indian site. Under the protection of the Southwest Heritage Foundation, the Bluff Great House Site is under investigation by archaeologists at the . . . — — Map (db m271024) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
In 1856, nine-year-old Bodil Malene Mortensen departed from Denmark with her family's friends Jens and Elsie Nielson and their five-year-old son Niels (commonly referred to as Jens Jr). What likely began as an adventure for young Bodil and Jens Jr. . . . — — Map (db m270871) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
Parley Butt, at age 17, participated in the five-month expedition to locate a site for the settlement and a route to it. Upon his return to his family in Parowan, Utah, he and his brother Dick (Willard) Butt journeyed to Bluff with the other . . . — — Map (db m270877) HM
The community's co-op store was located in the northeast corner of the fort. This cooperative venture, which provided a means for buying, selling and trading, became very successful. The Navajos and Utes also frequented the store, trading their . . . — — Map (db m95036) HM
On U.S. 163 at milepost 38.3, on the right when traveling east.
William H. Jackson of the United States Geological and Geographical survey conducted the first formal archeological exploration of the Comb Ridge area. Originating in the Colorado Territory, Jackson and his team reached Comb Ridge by following . . . — — Map (db m95034) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
Six Decker families made the epic Hole-in-the Rock journey together, including father/grandfather, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
James and Anna Mickelsen Decker
While camped at 50 Mile Spring, prior to making it through the . . . — — Map (db m270872) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
Melvin Gaines, a local farmer and life-long resident of Bluff, donated farm equipment that was utilized by the original settlers of the Fort.
The collection includes the following:
Slip or Scoop Scrapers
Scrapers played an essential . . . — — Map (db m270841) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
Fredrick and Mary (Mackelprang) Jones came to Bluff in 1882, two years after the Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers had arrived. They were part of the second set of pioneers called to the San Juan Mission. The young couple made the journey with their . . . — — Map (db m270876) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
The initial effort by Mormon pioneers to colonize the southeast corner of the Utah Territory began on the north bank of the San Juan River, 13.5 miles east of here. Responding to a call from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to . . . — — Map (db m270821) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
George Hobbs was one of several single young adults called to participate in the San Juan Mission. He was the only person assigned to all three of the mission's major scouting expeditions.
The first scouting expedition, which established sites . . . — — Map (db m270870) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
A challenging period for the settlers in Bluff was when they lived in and around their wagons until they were able to build a cabin. These living accommodations varied in duration and according to the needs and resources of each family.
The . . . — — Map (db m270875) HM
On U.S. 163 at milepost 39.6, on the left when traveling east.
As winter storm approached, four nearly starved scouts, George Hobbs, George Morrill, Lemuel Redd, Sr. and George Sevey, sought shelter for the night in this area on December 27, 1879. The scouts were exploring for a feasible route for the 250 . . . — — Map (db m95035) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
The success of the pioneers' settlements along the San Juan River was contingent upon irrigating the parched land. Irrigating with water from the San Juan River, which was prone to frequent fluctuations ranging from nearly no water flow to raging . . . — — Map (db m270881) HM
On North 6th Street at Black Locust Avenue, on the right when traveling north on North 6th Street. Reported permanently removed.
Built in 1890's by Jens Nielson
Born in Denmark in 1820
Member of handcart company of 1856, to S.L.C.
First Mormon Bishop of Bluff 1880-1906 — — Map (db m95042) HM
In honor of her courage, faith, compassion, friendship, love, and medical service to the greater Bluff community from 1882-1906.
In addition to serving the children as Bluff's Primary president for 25 years, Josephine Wood was called by Bishop . . . — — Map (db m95037) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
Kumen in 1879, at age 22, was a member of the five-month scouting expedition to locate suitable sites for the San Juan missionaries to settle. After returning, he and his wife Mary Nielson made the arduous journey to Bluff via the Hole-in-the-Rock. . . . — — Map (db m270825) HM
The Jones log cabin was located in the northwest corner of the fort. Near the turn of the century, the Joneses constructed an elegant stone home adjacent to their original cabin. Fire destroyed the Jones home in 1975.
In 1896, a gold rush brought . . . — — Map (db m95038) HM
In 1879, at age 17, Parley R. Butt was one of 26 men who scouted possible routes for the San Juan Mission and established Montezuma Fort. A few months later, he traveled with the main group of pioneers as they blazed the Hole-in-the-Rock road. In . . . — — Map (db m95041) HM
On Black Locust Avenue just east of 5th East, on the right when traveling east.
Sketched by Remington Lange 1893 Bluff's log meetinghouse was the center of all public gatherings for the small community on the remote San Juan frontier. The meetinghouse, which was part of the north wall of the Bluff Fort, served as . . . — — Map (db m149540) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
Bluff's log meetinghouse was the center of all public gatherings for the small community on the remote San Juan frontier. The meetinghouse, which was part of the north wall of the Bluff Fort, served as chapel, courthouse, ballroom, concert hall, and . . . — — Map (db m270823) HM
Rincone, Spanish for corner, was the name given this bench land which forms a right angle junction of Comb Ridge and the San Juan River. Being a popular site for the fording of the river. William Hyde established a trading post here in the early . . . — — Map (db m303305) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
In the early 1890s, gold was reported as discovered along the San Juan River.
"Men broke and ran like mad from all around, to stake a claim on the river before all the ground should be taken. From New England, the Eastern, Central and Western . . . — — Map (db m270879) HM
On Navajo Twins Drive west of U.S. 191, on the right when traveling west.
Bluff was the first settlement of the white man in San Juan County and its first county seat. It was founded April 6, 1880 by the San Juan Mission "called" by the L.D.S. Church to establish friendly relations with the Indians. A small band of . . . — — Map (db m95043) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th East, on the left when traveling west on Black Locust Avenue.
• Member of San Juan Mission Exploring Party • Driver of one of first wagons through Hole-in-the-Rock • First Superintendent of San Juan Schools • Church Leader and Missionary to Indians — — Map (db m150070) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
The 1893-1894 gold rush brought an influx of men to the area. Some were skilled masons, stone cutters, and carpenters. After having no luck in the goldfields, some men sought employment in Bluff. Mr. Tyndall, a stonecutter and mason, built the Kumen . . . — — Map (db m270828) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
The cabins of Bluff were constructed from cottonwood trees that grew abundantly along the river banks. Each cabin's roof was constructed by covering tightly laid limbs, which spanned the cabin's central beam and the outside walls, with burlap, . . . — — Map (db m270833) HM
On Black Locust Avenue at 5th E Street on Black Locust Avenue.
In April 1880, 260 pioneers arrived here, concluding a six-month journey of unparalleled difficulty. We invite you to enjoy a self-guided tour. Push the buttons on the cabin entrances to learn more of their remarkable challenges.
In the late . . . — — Map (db m270882) HM
