Ok, I promise this is the last of the Cool Places Not Named Zion or Bryce posts.  Really, the CPNNZOB thing overstayed it’s welcome.

So, I went to Mass on Sunday, yes they do allow Catholic Churches in Utah, and I was talking with this man afterward.  I was lamenting the fact that you can’t get down to the north rim of the Grand Canyon until May 15th.  He told me, even still, Highway 89A was one of his favorite drives.  89A loops south out of Kanab and takes you to the road that goes down to the north rim.  The drive takes you up on to the Kanab Plateau and into the The Kaibab National Forest.  It then drops down into a huge valley that runs along the Vermillion Cliffs of the Pariah Plateau.

At the end of it all is Lee’s Ferry.  It’s not an actual ferry crossing anymore but is now a busy jumping off point for Colorado River excursions, both commercial and private.  I can’t tell you how envious I was feeling of these people as I watched them come and go.

The Colorado River just downstream from Lee’s Ferry and just upstream from it’s grand entrance into the Grand Canyon.

John D. Lee was a Mormon Zealot who was sent by the church to establish and run a ferry crossing that would be vital to the Mormon Church’s expansion into the Arizona and New Mexico territories.  Along the way he became a dark spot in the Mormon Church’s history.  In 1857 Lee, some fellow Zealots, and some Paiute Indians attacked a wagon train of settlers bound for California.  After laying siege to the circled wagons for two days, Lee walked into the wagon train under a white flag and convinced the settlers to lay down their arms and promised safe passage.  They then executed 120 men, women, and children sparing only 17 children under the age of 6.  What became known as the Mountain Meadow Massacre was a dark chapter in both the Mormon Church and American History.  Brigham Young tried to brush the whole thing away, blaming the Paiutes for the slaughter.  He offered Lee as the sacrificial lamb, excommunicating him from the church and divorcing him from his 16 or so wives.  The whole thing from Lee’s account, to Young’s involvement was Watergate times twenty.  After two trials, a mountain of church political bullshit, and twenty years, Lee was finally shot on the site of the massacre in 1877.  He was the only one to face justice for the atrocity.

That was The Happy Wanderer’s less than objective capsule version of the event.  You can find a whole bunch of other versions, including some interesting rationalizations from some LDS bloggers.  I guess the fact that some men are just plain evil is a little too complicated for them.  What’s that great Diane Keaton line to Jack Nicholson?  “The truth doesn’t have versions, Harry!”  Just search Mountain Meadow Massacre.  Ok, back to the last CPNNZOB.

Along 89A on the way to Lee’s Ferry, is the town of Cliff Dwellers.  Cliff Dwellers isn’t so much a town as it is a river float outfitters.  It boasts a Chevron station, a great little restaurant right behind it, and a whole bunch of boats, rafts, and gear.  Right by the town is this interesting area.

And heading into Lee’s Ferry is Marble Canyon.