Grafton Historic Site – Grafton, Arizona

The Town of Grafton was established in 1859 to provide a settlement for people to grow cotton on the fertile plains next to the Virgin River. Frequent floods and Indian attacks caused problems for early pioneers, but some persisted and the town became quite successful, lasting until the 1930s.  Several large buildings remain including a two-story private residence and a combined Church and schoolhouse built in 1886.

Grafton Cemetery is the old cemetery that has a few dozen graves from the period 1860 - 1910, with telling inscriptions that give some insight into the harsh life at that time. 

This area is being preserved by the Grafton Heritage Partnership Project.

Our Ranger Led Tour of Zion

Our tour guide had only been out of college and on the job for about a year and a half.  She has a degree in graphic arts, decided that was not for her after graduation and decided that a ranger was the career for her.

She was very informative.  Our group filled half the tour bus.  Here we are with her in our group picture.  The first picture is our guide and Mary and Chuck's grand daughter Hope (otherwise known as the Purple Flash)

Zion National Park – Near Springdale, Arizona

Zion, interpreted by Mormons as a place of safety or refuge, was given to this canyon by Mormon pioneers in the 1860's. Almost 12,000 years ago Zion's first peoples are now almost invisible. The Anasazi moved southeast 800 years ago, due probably to drought and overuse. Soon after, Paiute peoples brought a lifeway fine-tuned to desert seasons. In the 1860s, just after settlement by Mormon pioneers, John Wesley Powell visited Zion on the first scientific exploration of southern Utah. Flash floods destroyed towns and drought burned the crops. Only the will to survive saw Paiute, Anasazi, and European descendants through great difficulties.

Below are some picture taken from the shuttle and hiking.  Unless you were staying at the lodge you were not able to drive your vehicles unless you were traveling the highway thru the park.

 Due to a heavy snow melt the river was very high

 Our group Hiking!!

 Me not hiking

Dorma and Peggy not hiking

Peggy and Lyle

Us

The squirrels were all most aggresive after people fed them to often

Pipe Spring National Monument – Fredonia, Arizona

This joint center was cooperatively funded and built, and is operated by the National Park Service and the Kaibab Paiute.  Built by Mormon pioneers in the 1870s, Winsor Castle was the headquarters of a tithing ranch, operated by the Mormon Church.  The ranch house/fort was designed as both a headquarters for a tithing cattle ranch and as protection from Indian attacks. The Mormon settlers did not particularly fear the Paiute tribe, which at that time inhabited much of the Arizona Strip, but the Navajo, who would cross the Colorado River at low water and raid both the Paiutes and the settlers.  The fortified ranch house was constructed directly over Pipe Spring. The Mormons were only the latest group to be drawn to Pipe Spring, which had attracted people for centuries. The Ancient Puebloans (Anasazi) inhabited the area from approximately 1 A.D. to 1200 A.D. The Paiute tribe followed the Anasazi, and had lived in the Pipe Spring region for nearly three centuries by the time the European settlers began moving into this area.

Below is some shots of the grounds and the interior of Winsor Castle.  At one time a telegraph connected Winsor with surronding towns.  The operator was an 18 year old female who manned the office 24 hours a day.

 Our tour guide

 Spring pool behind tour group

 Tom, checking out the grounds

 Deseret Telegraph

 Telegraph office

 Spring house lazy susan

Grand Canyon North Rim Arizona

Highway 67 to the North Rim Grand Canyon closes each winter due to snow levels and opens again, mid-May, when the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim opens.  At the North Rim, the more eroded and sloping walls give a view of the river below.  The North Rim is 1000' higher than the South Rim, resulting in cooler temperatures, a different environment and a lush forest. This is a more remote section of the Grand Canyon, located in Northern Arizona, near Southern Utah's border and is a definite must see.

 Jacobs Lake Inn - a stop about 40 miles before the North Rim

 You got to be here, pictures doesn't do it justice

Hot chocolate and drivers meeting,  we move to Brice tomorrow