The Arizona colonies were an extension of Brigham Young's plan for the colonization of the West. The settlers in these colonies were called as missionaries, some for the rest of their lives. The Arizona missionary call came in early 1876. Despite the exploratory work done by Jacob Hamblin and all of the others, this was a hazardous and tremendously difficult undertaking. Before their departure on the mission, all of the missionaries were re-baptized as a token of their devotion to their duty and "so they could enter into the work with their former sins forgiven and with renewed fervor." Tanner page 12 see citation below.
The original plan called for four settlements of fifty families each. The four leaders called were George Lake, William C. Allen, Jesse O. Ballinger and Lot Smith.
The Lake company was recruited from Cache, Box Elder and Weber Counties in Utah.
The Smith company came from Davis, Morgan, Summit and Wasatch counties.
The Allen company was drawn from Utah County.
The Ballinger company from Sanpete and Juab counties.
The companies did not all leave at the same time but the migration stretched out over two years or more. The first company left Salt Lake on February 3, 1876. They followed the trail across the north side of the Grand Canyon along the cliffs to Kanab. They crossed over into Arizona at Lee's Ferry. On March 23, they arrived at Sunset Crossing on the Little Colorado River. After traveling about twenty-five miles up the River, they held a council to decide on a location for the settlement.
After lengthy discussion, including input from James S. Brown, an Indian missionary. the council finally decided, after much discussion, to settle where they had stopped. The Allen company chose a spot four miles east of the town of Joseph City, Arizona. The settlement was originally called Allen's Camp. A few months later, the Allen Company was moved about two miles closer to the present settlement of Joseph City where the colonists constructed a fort. The fort was used by the colony for a number of years.
Source unless otherwise indicated:
Tanner, George S. Henry Martin Tanner; Joseph City, Arizona Pioneer, Born June 11, 1852, San Bernardino, California, Died March 21, 1935, Gilbert, Arizona. 1964.
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