Salvation Knoll

At the call of Mormon Church leaders in 1878, a company of pioneers was sent to
colonize the San Juan Valley in Southeastern Utah. Throughout the winter of 1879-1880 these
Mormon pioneers built a wagon road, through the terribly rugged terrain between Escalante, Utah
and the Four Corners area. As the main body of pioneers labored to widen the treacherous
descent through the "Hole" or cleft in the rock above the Colorado River Gorge, four advance
scouts traveled through this area, searching for the most feasible route between the Colorado
River and Montezuma Creek. By the time the scouts reached this area they were lost and out of
food. On Christmas morning 1879, George Hobbs climbed to the top of this knoll searching for a
recognizable landmark. Hobbs recorded: "This was surely salvation knoll. For looking to the
northeast... I discovered the Blue Mountains about ten miles away. This was the landmark we
had been looking for for several days." Although hindered by severe winter storms, the scouts
George Hobbs, George Morell, Lemuel Redd, and George Sevy succeeded in plotting a wagon
route through some of the most difficult terrain in North America.

Sponsored by the
George Brigham Hobbs Family