The Colorado River and its deeply entrenched canyons create a lengthy barrier to travel in the interior West. Here and there, ancient Indian foot trails descend canyon walls and find access to the river, but one of the few places between California and Nevada where wheeled vehicles can approach it is at the mouth of the Pahreah River, between Glen Canyon and the rivers steep drop toward Grand Canyon. Here, from the mid-19th until well into the 2th century, Lees Ferry was a primary link between Utah and Arizona. Mormons trying to reach potential Indian converts and new lands for colonization to the south first developed the site. John D. Lee and parts of his family, seeking an inconspicuous spot after the Mountain Meadows massacre, first took up residence at what they called Lonely Dell. In subsequent decades, many interesting and important western characters passed through this topographical and historical funnel, from John Wesley Powell to Buffalo Bill. As river exploration and adventure increased, the place became as important to those using the river-surveyors, miners, river runners-as to folks crossing it. In recognition of its importance, Lees Ferry has been partially restored as a historic site in the national park system.
P. T. Reilly, himself a legend on the river as boatman and chronicler, wrote the detailed and colorful history this place demanded, focusing on stories of the hodgepodge of people it attracted. He died before he finished reworking his massive narrative into book form, but Robert H. Webb, author of Grand Canyon: A Century of Change, completed that job and selected rare historical photos from the Reilly collection at Northern Arizona University to illustrate it. An epilogue by Richard Quartaroli provides a biographical sketch of P. T. Reilly.
About the Author
P.T. Reilly--expert riverman, backcountry explorer, river chronicler--published articles on the history of the Colorado River, but he died in 1996 before his big work, a detailed and dramatic history of Lees Ferry was published. Robert H. Webb, author of _Grand Canyon: A Century of Change_, finished preparing this book for publication. One of the few places where wheeled vehicles could approach the Colorado River in its long miles through deep canyons and, thus, a critical transportation and communication link, north and south and up and down the river, Lees Ferry became a historical funnel. A fascinating miscellany of western characters passed through or stayed. Reilly gives most of them a turn in the spotlight as part of his robust story of an out-of-the-way place that came to be on the way.
