The stage is set for the pioneer migration

The first real ferryboat at Lee's Ferry was built by John L. Blythe and began service on October 15, 1873. Since John D. Lee was arrested in 1874, he was long gone by the time of the early settlers in 1876 and 1877. As a note, John D. Lee was executed by firing squad on March 23, 1877. By 1877, the Paria Road, as it was known, was used for hauling freight into Arizona, especially to Prescott, which was, at that time, the Territorial Capital and remained so until Phoenix became the Capital in 1889.

When the first Mormon pioneer settlers started into the deserts and mountains of Arizona, there were no rail lines, everything coming into the State had to be hauled by horse or ox wagon. At that time the nearest railroad terminus was west of Yuma, many hundreds of miles from northern Arizona.

My Great-grandfather, Henry Martin Tanner, came to the Little Colorado River colonies in 1877, about a year after the first colonists began entering the Territory. One exceptional account of crossing the Colorado at Lee's Ferry comes from a narrative by Erastus B. Snow, who reached the river on January 16, 1878. The account is as follows:

The Colorado River, the Little Colorado and all the springs and watering places were frozen over. Many of the springs and tanks were entirely frozen up, so that we were compelled to melt snow and ice for our teams. We (that is J. W. Young and I), crossed our team and wagon on the ice over the Colorado. I assure you it was quite a novelty to me, to cross such a stream of water on ice; many other heavily loaded wagons did the same, some with 2500 pounds on. One party did a very foolish trick, which resulted in the loss of an ox; they attempted to cross three head of large cattle all yoked and chained together, and one of the wheelers stepped on a chain that was dragging behind, tripped and fell, pulling his mate with him, thereby bringing such a heft on the ice that it broke through, letting the whole into the water; but the ice being sufficiently strong they could stand on it and pull them out one at a time. One got under the ice and was drowned, the live one swimming some length of time holding the dead one up by the yoke.

This is the last reported time that the Colorado River has ever frozen. The incident in crossing the river was also recounted by Anthony W. Ivins, later a member of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as related to James H. McClintock:

[T]he river was frozen from shore to shore, but, above and below for a short distance, the river was open and running rapidly." Great care was taken in crossing, the wagons with their loads usually pulled over by hand and the horses taken over singly. Thus the ice was cracked. Mr. Ivins recites the episode of the oxen and then tells that a herd of cattle was taken across by throwing each animal, tying its legs and dragging it across. One man could drag a grown cow over the smooth ice. Mr. Ivins tells that he remained at the river several days, crossing on the ice 32 times. On the 22d the missionaries and settlers all were at Navajo Springs, ready to continue the journey.

The journey continues...

Source unless otherwise noted:

McClintock, James H. Mormon Settlement in Arizona; a Record of Peaceful Conquest of the Desert. 1921.