Cabins honor struggle of 'unparalleled difficulty'

BLUFF, Utah — Not much was known about southeastern Utah when pioneer settlers were directed by President John Taylor in 1879 to leave their established homes in Parowan and Cedar City, Utah, and forge their way across generally unfamiliar territory.With more faith than resources, they embarked on a journey that endured six months and required the descending of a sheer rock crevice in the Colorado River gorge now known as Hole in the Rock.Once they arrived in the San Juan area in April 1880, they built the small community of Bluff. Irrigation ditches were dug and crops planted, then small one-room cabins were erected in close proximity to each other to form a fort as a means of defending themselves.Originally, the fort comprised 40 to 50 cabins. Today, only one cabin, the Barton cabin, remains as a reminder of frontier life on the San Juan River.Descendants of these 250 pioneers describe the struggle as an "ordeal of unparalleled difficulty" in church history.Read the full story at ldschurchnews.com.

Deseret News.