I'm Not Bluffing!
For our tour of the far southeast corner of Idaho, we are basing out of Bluff and staying at Cadilac Ranch RV Park (reasonable prices and there is even a small pond stocked with fish.) This small town has an interesting history. Let me tell you about a man I met yesterday.
Mike was resting and checking out the pond, so I decided to take a walking tour of the town. Just a couple of blocks from the campground is the Bluff Fort. As I approached, it looked like many other historical areas with buildings restored and old stuff laying about. The visitor center was locked so I figured it was closed for the winter... that is until John Neilson appeared. Seems his sister normally runs the visitor center "but she hadta run to Salt Lake for a Doc appointment, so I'm fillin in." This gentleman unlocked the center and turned on the video all the while telling me about how he was "workin to restar onea da buildins".
In 1879, 240 Mormans left Salt Lake headed for Bluff to establish a Morman Settlement. They expected the trip would take them 6 weeks - it ended up taking them 6 months and makes for a very interesting story. The trail they took is now called the Hole in the Rock Trail. It covers some of the most challenging terrain known to man from rock cliffs of 1000 feet to mountain ranges that seemed to never end. They made the trip in covered wagons, at times blasting their path through solid rock with pic axes and dynamite. All 240 men, women, and children survived and Bluff was founded. These descendants are rebuilding and restoring so that their children's children will not forget this mission of faith.
I mentioned that John is a descendant. Actually, his great grandfather was one of the 240. At that time, his dad was with wife #1 - John is the child of wife #3. Old Les had all three of these wives at one time. "Ya kno da had poligame ata one time, doncha." Anyway, his great grandpa ended up with 10 children, served as the first bishop of this new found area, lived in the house across the street where John's sister now lives, and is buried "up on da hill".
This is the meetinghouse as it looked in the 1880's.
This is the house that great grandpa, the bishop, built and lived in and is now occupied by sister.
This is one of the actual wagons that made the journey back in 1879.
John was an interesting man and his story even more interesting. Evidently, mormoms today travel The Hole In The Rock Trail and when all finished this facility will be a place where they can stay, a kind of retreat center.
Mike was resting and checking out the pond, so I decided to take a walking tour of the town. Just a couple of blocks from the campground is the Bluff Fort. As I approached, it looked like many other historical areas with buildings restored and old stuff laying about. The visitor center was locked so I figured it was closed for the winter... that is until John Neilson appeared. Seems his sister normally runs the visitor center "but she hadta run to Salt Lake for a Doc appointment, so I'm fillin in." This gentleman unlocked the center and turned on the video all the while telling me about how he was "workin to restar onea da buildins".
In 1879, 240 Mormans left Salt Lake headed for Bluff to establish a Morman Settlement. They expected the trip would take them 6 weeks - it ended up taking them 6 months and makes for a very interesting story. The trail they took is now called the Hole in the Rock Trail. It covers some of the most challenging terrain known to man from rock cliffs of 1000 feet to mountain ranges that seemed to never end. They made the trip in covered wagons, at times blasting their path through solid rock with pic axes and dynamite. All 240 men, women, and children survived and Bluff was founded. These descendants are rebuilding and restoring so that their children's children will not forget this mission of faith.
I mentioned that John is a descendant. Actually, his great grandfather was one of the 240. At that time, his dad was with wife #1 - John is the child of wife #3. Old Les had all three of these wives at one time. "Ya kno da had poligame ata one time, doncha." Anyway, his great grandpa ended up with 10 children, served as the first bishop of this new found area, lived in the house across the street where John's sister now lives, and is buried "up on da hill".
This is the meetinghouse as it looked in the 1880's.
This is the house that great grandpa, the bishop, built and lived in and is now occupied by sister.
This is one of the actual wagons that made the journey back in 1879.
John was an interesting man and his story even more interesting. Evidently, mormoms today travel The Hole In The Rock Trail and when all finished this facility will be a place where they can stay, a kind of retreat center. True story - I'm not bluffing!
posted by jf and me | 9:02 PM
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