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Show The Tanners in Arizona and the Southwest 197 of proven ability were selected from the four areas the missionaries were called from and were placed in charge to lead the colony to its place of settlement, and preside over it when it was formed. The four men selected were George Lake, of Oxford, Idaho; Four Lot men Smith, of Farmington, Utah; William C. Allen of Draper, Utah; and Jesse O. Ballenger of Springville, Utah. 5 Many of the colonists, with no more than two weeks notice, left in the first week in February, hoping to arrive on the Little Colorado in time to make dams, clear and plow the land, and plant crops to furnish them food for the coming winter. They followed much the same route Brown and his party had used a few months before, and arrived at the furthest limit of his exploration on March 24, 1876, a date since celebrated as Pioneer Day by settlers along 6 the Little Colorado. Brigham Young had given the colonists three principal goals: ( 1) To make homes for Latter-day Saints and thus extend the "cur tains of Zion." (2) To make the acquaintance with the Indians and "do them good." (3) To establish and learn how to operate United Orders. The land had not been surveyed at the time, but the land-hungry pioneers moved in and made numerous claims. They petitioned the Territory of Arizona for patents on dam sites and water canals, and set to work to try to produce food and forage. Two of the captains established their colonies at the place of their first encampment, that is about three miles above present Joseph City George Lake crossed to the south side of the river and William C. Allen remained on the north. The other two captains moved back down the river and chose sites near present Winslow Lot Smith - - selecting the or north or east side and Jesse O. Ballenger the south west side. In the course of a few years three of the colonies were fated for oblivion. George Lake's colony, known as Obed, was abandoned in the fall of 1877; Ballenger's colony, known as Brigham City, in 1881; and Lot Smith's colony, known as Sunset, in 1886. Most people who see this country. for the first time are struck with its bleak nature and invariably raise the question of why anyone would want to settle here. Little Joseph City, population about six hundred, on highway 66, is twelve miles west of Holbrook, and twenty-five miles east of Winslow. These two uninviting railroad |
