spring 04 / 17:1 - Grand Canyon River Guides

of the group stayed in the “old John D. Lee fort,” and
spent the next few days cleaning out the building and
generally tidying up their camp. Names incised into two
adjacent stones of the structure, to the left of the
western door, are those of expedition members “E.
Kane” and “McCormick.” Elmer Kane’s is dated “Aug.
20. 91,” while James A. McCormick’s is “Aug. 18–91.”
As events unfolded, Best was called back to Denver
to meet with the mining company board, and as a result
the men languished at Lees Ferry for over two months.
Member Luther H. Jewel left “LH Jewel Sept 20–91”
incised into the back wall of the fort on the left, close to
E.W. Steven’s inscription. Undoubtedly, it was also
sometime during this two-month waiting period that
John Hislop carved “J. Hislop” to the right of the eastern
front door.
With the eventual return of Best, the party finally
departed Lees Ferry on October 17. The silver prospect
turned out to be a bust, and by the end of the month the
expedition subsequently broke up. One other inscription,
lightly scratched into the back wall of the Lees
Ferry fort, near that of Jewel’s, reads, “JRB 91+Nov.”
None of the members of the expedition had these
initials, the closest being James S. Best himself. Though
the date would be in agreement with when any of the
members of the now-dissolved prospecting party might
have returned to Lees Ferry, this inscription probably
does not relate to the Best expedition.
In 1871, John Doyle Lee was sent by the Latter-day
Saint church president, Brigham Young, to the mouth of
the Paria River to establish a crossing place on the
Colorado River for future Mormon settlement into the
Little Colorado River region of northern Arizona. Lee
and his family arrived on or close to New Year’s, 1872.
Later that fall the first ferryboat was constructed for use
by the colonizing expeditions of the coming year. The
point chosen for the ferry crossing was about half-a-mile
upstream from Lees farm and residence. Here, at the foot
of Glen Canyon, various ferryboats would transport
hundreds of travelers back and forth across the Colorado
from 1873 until 1928.
About halfway up to the ferry crossing, carved into a
low rock wall immediately adjacent to the river, is the
following inscription: “G.M. Wright Nov. 17, 1892.”
Perhaps inspired in part by the newspaper publicity
surrounding the Best expedition the year before,
prospector George M. Wright had been hired by a
mining company in Salt Lake City to follow in Best’s
“footsteps” down the Green and Colorado Rivers,
searching for possible mineral locations. As did Best,
Wright ended his river voyage at Lees Ferry, reaching
that point on November 17. The inscription probably
marks his landing and/or camping place. He subsequently
remained in the Lees Ferry area for the next
couple of years prospecting, before finally drifting farther
south in Arizona to new mining opportunities.
On the opposite, or south side of the ferry crossing,
a rough wagon road had been constructed which
followed back downstream for a short ways before
angling up the steep ascent of Lees Backbone. On some
rocky outcroppings to the left of this road can still be
seen several names left by travelers. One, painted on
with what was probably axle grease, reads, “E.A. Burk
Nov 21 —.” Unfortunately, the year date has been
nearly weathered away, but appears to be “89.” Luckily,
this same person left another inscription some forty
miles to the west along the Mormon Wagon road at
House Rock Spring. This carving provides much more
information: “Edgar A. Burk Of Farmington Cut This
In Sep 22 1880 Going To Arizona A.D.” The
November 21 date at Lees Ferry indicates, obviously, a
different trip.
Very close to the Burk inscription is one reading,
“Val. Wightman May 10 95.” Wightman also left his
name and the date incised at Willow Springs, farther
south on the Mormon wagon road, but three days
earlier, on March 7. This would, of course, indicate that
he was traveling from Arizona north to Utah.
From the south bank of the Lees Ferry crossing, the
Mormon wagon road soon began its way upward along
the steeply sloping incline of the large rock ledge
named, facetiously, by early travelers “Lees Backbone.”
Part way up the mile-long climb a lengthy inscription
can be found deeply carved into a boulder: “Dec 4 1878.
This Rock Sentinel To Passing Of First Mesa Company
Under The Command Of Hyrum Smith Phelps.” Phelps,
from Bear Lake County, Idaho, piloted a group of 83
individuals from that region, and also from Salt Lake
Hyrum Smith Phelps inscription at Lees Backbone
County, Utah, to reinforce the relative few Mormon
settlers who had come “over the rim” of the Colorado
Plateau to the valley of the Salt River in central Arizona
the preceding spring.
Farther south, shortly before the old route descends
to the comparatively flat level of the Marble Platform,
page 22
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