Lee's Ferry: From Mormon Crossing to National Park

13. The Polygamists

13 The Polygamists ALTHOUGH THE OPENING OF THE BRIDGE OVER MARBLE CANYON INCREASED travel to the Arizona Strip, the five-mile primitive dirt road to Lee's Ferry remained as rough as ever. The ranch in the mouth ofPahreah Canyon was more isolated than it had been when the ferry was in operation. Some travelers even failed to notice the two ruts that turned off toward the east-a situation that suited the people of the ranch. Engineers connected with river gaging used the road more than anyone. The resident hydrographer had support during high water-usually from April to July-and the assistant did the work when the resident took his annual leave. Other hydraulic engineers or the chief from Tucson often visited. Owen Clark was the resident hydrographer in 1929, assisted during high-water by Joe Gatewood. The hydrographer had duties elsewhere as well; Clark sometimes worked at Mexican Hat on the Sanjuan River; other stations were at Moenkopi Wash, Clear Creek, Chevelon Creek; and there were Little Colorado River stations at Grand Falls, Holbrook, and Woodruff. Recognizing that the Grand Canyon Bridge opened Arizona to insect invasion from the north, state officials made plans to inspect vehicles before they reached the agriculturally important areas to the south. In 1929, a frame building inspection station built near the Lowrey trading post was manned by Halbert E. Woodruff for the Arizona Commission ofAgriculture and Horticulture. The Highway Department had a rock building that was used as a warehouse on the same side of the road, making this-aside from Fredonia and Lee's Ferry-one of the more built-up areas on the Arizona Strip. Traffic increased to the point that one man could not handle the load, so Lavern Thayer, and later Finis H. McCaleb were sent to speed the flow of traffic. Both single, Woodruff and Thayer spent their spare time at the Lowrey lodge, the attractions being Buck Lowery's older daughter and her cousin. The inspectors appeared so official in their uniforms that during a visitJohn D. Rockefeller asked Buck Lowrey iftheywere special guards hired for his benefit. Woodruff pressed his suit and finally popped the question to Mamie Lowery. Although she was only a junior at Flagstaff High School, Mamie and Halbert were married on July 20, 1930, with Preacher Shine Smith conducting the ceremony. The young couple built a rock house 340 The Polygamists 341 Owen Clark and dog at Lee's Ferry, 1930 (M. B. Scott photograph, P. T. Reilly Collection, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University). across from the station and lived there until Governor George W. P. Hunt discontinued the entry inspections a year later. Isaac Carling Spencer and his second family returned from Mexico in the fall of 1928 and resumed farming at the ranch. Along with the families of Price and Elmer Johnson, Victor Cox and his wife Neta (sister to Price's second wife) had two children, as did the Langs. All were fundamentalist in belief and practice except Price's first wife, Esther, and all were related by blood or marriage. As Professor DeMotte had noted in 1872, the ranch in the mouth of Pahreah Canyon excelled as "an out of the way place," and the residents could put their beliefs into practice with little fear of being bothered. Price planned to start a ranch at Badger Creek and sell gas to the travelers. He would not get first crack at the northbound traffic, but he could offer gas and oil to those headed south and compete with Lowrey on a modest scale. His first hurdle was to get title to his homestead.1 InJuly 1929,JerryJohnson took steps to file a homestead entry on the Lee's Ferry ranch. He had no idea how to go about this and sought advice from Heber T. Meeks, president of Kanab Stake. As the land office was in Phoenix, Meeks enlisted the help of J. R. Price, president of the Maricopa Stake, who had the business acumen to employ the law firm of Gibbs & Gibbs, specialists in state and federal land causes. The situation was more tangled than the lawyers realized, butJerry authorized them to act for him and on August 19, 1929, they applied for a homestead entry. Unknown 342 Lee's Ferry to the attorneys, Jerry's claim was weakened by the fact that he no longer lived continually on the land, and both Heber Meeks...