Lees Ferry

For five hundred miles the Colorado runs walled in stone, and this was the one place a wagon could reach the water and cross. That geography made Lees Ferry. In 1873 Latter-day Saint settlers cut a road down from Kanab and launched a ferryboat, sending families on to colonize the Little Colorado country. A post office and trading post followed. The crossing carried Arizona-bound pioneers until 1929, when the Navajo Bridge finally spanned the gorge downstream and made the ferry obsolete overnight.

What the plaque says

Because of long, deep canyons, Lees Ferry was the best crossing point along 500 miles (800 km) of the Colorado River., In 1873, Mormon Church members opened a wagon road from Kanab, Utah, and built a ferryboat here. John D. Lee was the first ferryman and namesake of the site., Pioneers, sent to settle the Little Colorado River in northern Arizona, used the ferry service. Lees Ferry grew to include a post office and a trading post. Because of the conflict between the settlers and the Navajo Indians, a fort was built but never attacked. In 1911, Charles H. Spencer unsuccessfully attempted to mine gold from the clay hills behind the Lees Ferry Fort.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Antelope Canyon — 12 mi
  Tsé bighánílíní — where the water runs through the rock

More markers nearby

• Historic District River Trail — steps away
• Upper Ferry Site — 0.4 mi
• Lees Ferry Fort — 0.4 mi
• Lonely Dell Ranch — 0.7 mi