This ford is approached from the northward by natural steps down the precipices, traveled by horses with some difficulty. On the southern side, egress is by way of a long canyon that has few difficulties of passage. The ford, which is illustrated in the frontispiece of this work, reproduced from an official drawing of the Wheeler expedition, may be used more than half the year. In springtime the stream is deep when the melted snows of the Rockies are drained by the spring freshet. Usually, the Mormon expeditions southward started well after the summer season, when the crossing could be made without particular danger. The Ute ford could hardly be made possible for wagon transportation, so there was early effort to find a route for a through road. As early as November, 1858, with some such idea in view, Jacob Hamblin was at the mouth of the Paria, 35 miles southwest of the Ute ford, but was compelled, then and also in November, 1859, to pursue his journey on, over the hills, to the ford. Ferrying at the Paria Mouth The first crossing of the river, at the mouth of the Paria, was made by a portion of a party, headed by Hamblin, in the fall of 1860. A raft was constructed, on which a few were taken across, but, after one animal had been drowned and there had been apparent demonstration that the dangers were too great, and that there was lack of a southern outlet, the party made its way up the river to the ford. The first successful crossing at the Paria was in March, 1864, by Hamblin, on a raft. The following year there was a Mormon settlement at or near the Paria mouth. August 4, 1869, the first of the Powell expeditions reached the mouth of the Paria, this on the trip that ended at the mouth of the Virgin. In September, 1869, Hamblin crossed by means of a raft. That the route had been definitely determined upon was indicated by the establishment, January 31, 1870, of a Paria fort, with guards. In the fall of that year President Brigham Young visited the Paria, as is shown in a letter written by W.T. Stewart, this after the President had seen the mouth of the Virgin and otherwise had shown his interest in a southern outlet for Utah. In this same year, according to Dellenbaugh, Major Powell built a rough scow, in order to reach the Moqui towns. This was the crossing in October, when Jacob Hamblin guided Powell to the Moqui villages and Fort Defiance. In his expedition of 1871, Powell left the river at the Ute ford and went to Salt Lake. A few days later, October 22, his men, with a couple of boats, reached the Paria for a lengthy stay, surveying on the Kaibab plateau, in the vicinity of Kanab. It was written that the boat "Emma Dean" was hidden across the river. By that time ferry service had been established, for on October 28, 1871, Jacob Hamblin and companions, on their way home from the south, were rowed across. John D. Lee on the Colorado