The San Juan Mission
Hole-in-the-Rock ExpeditionBluff was founded April 6, 1880, by Mormon pioneers fulfilling
an assignment from their church to colonize the Four Corners
region and promote peaceful relations with the native Americans.
In reaching Bluff, the colonizers built a wagon road across some of
the most broken terrain in North America. The challenges and hardships
encountered in blazing their road and establishing viable communities
on the San Juan frontier stand alone int he annals of western
pioneering. "No pioneer
company ever built a wagon road
through wilder, rougher, more
inhospitable country... None
ever demonstrated more courage,
faith and devotion to cause..."
David E. Miller, Historian
The Hole-in-the-Rock—a crevice widened by the poineers
to gain access down the cliffs of the Colorado River gorge.
