Our Bluff Fort Adventure

For the past several years, The Hole-in-the-Rock Foundation has been working on restoring Bluff Fort and making a historic site to commemorate the settling of southeastern Utah by the Mormon settlers that arrived in that area by way of Hole-in-the-Rock.  ZB Decker and ZB Decker Jr. and ZN Decker were participants in that historic move.

The Foundation has solicited funds from descendants of those early saints to restore cabins and homes for the historic site.  We have contributed to this venture for several years now, and sadly, we haven't taken the opportunity to visit Bluff Fort.

A couple of weeks ago, the MacPhersons, who just moved from Gallup to Blanding, went and visited the fort, and sent us a couple of pictures.  That was just the impetus we needed to go over on a day-trip to see the fort.

This is Rhyann MacPherson (one of my former first graders) outside the Decker Cabin.  This is one of the pictures they sent that spurred us on to our adventure.

Since school is about to begin, and Susan will be heading off to BYU-I soon, this past weekend was our best shot at making it there any time soon.  We called Brian and Chelsea to see if they wanted to come.  They did!  Bluff Fort is a three-hour drive from Galllup, so Brian and Chelsea met us in Shiprock, and we picked them up there.  Then we headed off to Bluff!  We would totally love to take the trip again with the whole family.  I don't think it would be a day trip from Provo, though.

This is a period organ that was in the Visitor's Center. 

It still plays!

You have to pump the organ with your feet while playing!

This shows the names of all the original participants in the trek.  (Chelsea had a great uncle that made the trek.

The Decker Cabin was the only cabin that had a cool sign like this one outside!

 

This is inside the Decker Cabin.  "It's all about the food!"

Inside the Decker Cabin.

Decker descendants.

Chelsea was scary with that lasso!

"Ride like the wind!"

There were handcarts we could pull!

 

There were pioneer clothes we could put on for photo shoots.

The road-weary travelers.

This was a lot of fun!

Susan got lassoed.

This is one of the actual wagons that made the trip through Hole-in-the-Rock.

We brought the hibachi and had a picnic lunch there.  Again.... It's all about the food!

Look!  We found a picture of the actual Decker Clan that came over on the trek!  Notice the family resemblance!  This is real.  It's an actual picture of the original trek!

It was a fun adventure!