Two accounts of Lee's Backbone

Pioneer-reinforced remains of treacherous Mormon Wagon Road on the Lees Backbone Mesa flickr

In a previous post, I talked about the location of Lee's Ferry across the Colorado River. I also mentioned Lee's Backbone, the hill the prioneers had to climb with their wagons after crossing the river going south. Early Arizona pioneer, Jesse N. Smith described Lee's hill, or Lee' s backbone, as follows: "The ascent was bad and the descent difficult and dangerous, the worse road I ever saw traveled with vehicles."

At the time, future LDS Church President, Wilford Woodruff, who visited this area several times, in his diary described the backbone as "The worst hill Ridge or Mountain that I Ever attempted to Cross with a team and waggon on Earth. We had 4 Horses on a waggon of 1,500 lb. weight and for two rods we Could ownly gain from 4 inches to 24 with all the power of the horses & two men rolling at the hind wheels and going Down on the other side was still more Steep rocky and sandy which would make it much worse than going up on the North side. The trip down the backbone and across the river tested one's resolve to continue the trip. As one weary traveler observed, If Mr. Lee had a backbone as bad as that I surely pity him. It didn't seem possible for the horses to pull the wagons up as the road was so sleep and the boulders so big, and it was just as bad on the dugway on the other side. Everyone who ever came over that piece of road had great cause for thankfulness they were not killed."