Debunking and Relocating Houserock Valley

Debunking and Relocating

IN THE FALL of 1871 Major J. W. Powell and his party, making the second voyage of exploration through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado river, arrived at the point now called Lee Ferry. This was the only place on the canyon for over three hundred miles where the perpen-dicular walls of the canyon had been broken down through some of the processes of Nature until it was possible for a wagon road, following down the Paria valley from the north, to reach the waters edge of the Colorado river. There, first by rafts of driftwood and later by means of a heavy scow, teams and wagons were ferried across the stream to the southern bank. From there the road passing the Hopi villages of Tuba and Moenkopi, eventually reached the Mormon settlements on the Little Colorado river far to the south in Arizona. Here, such adventurous characters as Jacob Hamlin, Isaac Haight, Bishop Roundy and other early Mormon pioneers had been crossing the river since as early as 1868 or '69. Bishop Roundy was drowned in crossing the river here in May, 1876. In 1871 John D. Lee, a member of the Mormon Church whose activities cover several rather disreputable pages of southwestern history, came to this isolated spot as a "hide out" from federal officers seeking to arrest him. Here he established the first regular public ferry across the river. When Powell's party reached this point on their way down stream the Major gave Lee one of his boats, (the "Nellie Powell" so named after his sister) because the boat was not built for such rough work as the trip was having and also his party was short handed, so he got rid of her. She was Lee's first real boat. Here Powell decided to leave his party to make a topographic map of and explore the country to the north

Houserock Valley

of the canyon, especially the Kaibab plateau and the huge valley east of it. Powell in the meantime, with two or three of his men, was to make his way overland to Salt Lake City for mail and supplies, and also to bring back some new members of the party who had come from the east to join them. One of the new comers was Powell's wife, Emma. Another was a young man named Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, an excellent photographer, a topographic engineer and map maker, and an artist of ability who also became the historian of the expedition.

Of this topographic survey Dellen-baugh says in his interesting book, "The Romance of the Colorado River."; "A number of us were left for a while in a valley between the Kaibab plateau, then called the Buckskin mountains, on the west, and what is now Paria plateau on the east, at a spring in a gulch of the Vermillion Cliffs.

"Two large rocks near this spring had fallen together in such a way that one could crawl under them for shelter. This was on the old trail leading from the Mormon settlements in southern Utah down to the Moki 'cities' in Arizona. It had been travelled about once a year by Jacob Hamlin and party

The Famed Country in Northern Arizona Described by Authority

on their trading expedition with the Navajo and other Arizona Indians.

"On one of these trips some of the party had taken refuge beneath this rock and on leaving had, with a piece of charcoal scrawled the words 'Rock House Hotel' on its smooth surface.

"A few yards beyond the House Rock the trail led into a gulch at the head of which is a good spring. Naturally in referring to the spring it was called 'Rock House Spring', also the 'Spring where the Rock House or House Rock It was'. Then it inadvertently became 'House Rock' and the name soon became a fixture and went on our maps that way. Thus easily are names established in a new country."

Referring elsewhere to this party and its topographic work, Mr. Dellenbaugh says: "Several of us, Cap, Clem, Andy and myself remained here House Rock spring-while Powell went on to Kanab and Salt Lake for mail and supplies. Powell's wife, who came west, met him at Salt Lake. He returned to our party

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