PIONEER MIGRATION MONUMEN T
FOUNDATIO N
LEE’S FERRY BELL
Supporting safe passage to pioneers from Utah to Arizona from 1872 to 1928
1864-1870
Pioneers began journeying from Utah to establish settlements in Arizona across the Colorado River, northeast of the Grand Canyon.
1870-1872
Brigham Young and Jacob Hamlin partnered to create a ferry service across the Colorado River for the safe passage of pioneers. Brigham Young sent Lieutenant John D. Lee to establish the ferry and for five years, the ferry provided the only viable way of crossing without a 500-mile detour around the Canyon.
1872-1928
Ferry operators were alerted of pioneers needing transport by a one-of-a-kind hand-forged copper bell commissioned by Brigham.
The ferry and bell provided 50 years of service, supporting pioneer migration to settlements across eastern Arizona in St. Josephs, Snowflake, St. Johns, Stafford, and many other neighboring cities.
The Navajo Bridge was built in 1928, supporting more efficient pasage across the canyon and ceasing ferry operations.
50 YEARS OF SERVICE
Almost half a million Arizona residents and families can trace their lineage back to those who crossed the river at Lee’s Ferry. The bell is the only known remaining artifact, and a unique symbol of the rich history of this Arizona migration story.
LEGISLATION
On April 18, 2022, the Governor of the State of Arizona approved legislation (HB2058) to allow for the Lee’s Ferry Bell to be placed in the Capitol Mall in downtown Phoenix as a state monument.
The bill prohibits the use of public monies for the design and construction of the monument; all associated fees are specified through the use of private monies via fundraising.
A group of dedicated community volunteers have been stewards of the Lee’s Ferry Bell and have collaborated on the design, placement, and fundraising efforts to support the state monument so that all individuals can enjoy it and its storied history in establishing many early state pioneers
JOURNEY BEGAN
FERRY CREATION
RICH HISTORY
Thank you for joining our dedicated board members and other passionate community in supporting the construction and design of the Pioneer Migration Monument. Your commitment and contribution will make the Lee’s Ferry bell a permanent state monument for future generations to learn from, observe, and enjoy.
Please consider a tax-deductible donation to <Pioneer Migration Monument Foundation> for one of the following sponsorship opportunities:
Name recognition on a monument ground brick
Name recognition on a sandstone brick on the wall behind the monument (brick size will vary based on the donation amount)
Name recognition on a prominent copper plaque in front of the monument that includes the monument’s history
We appreciate your contribution and support in reaching our $400,000 fundraising goal by December 2024.
Once our fundraising goal has been reached, construction of the monument will begin in early 2025, with completion planned for the fall of 2025. Information about community dedication in honor of the future monument and its supporters will be shared next spring.
OR MAIL A CHECK TO:
PIONEER MIGRATION MONUMENT
ARTIST : RUSTY BOWERS
Rusty Bowers, a long-standing public servant and former Arizona State Representative, is the visionary artist behind the design of the Pioneer Migration Monument.
Mr. Bowers represented the 25th legislative district from 2015 to 2023; he was elected as the 54th Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives in 2019. Bowers is a classically trained artist specialized in watercolor, oil painting, and sculpting, which supported the vision for the future Pioneer Migration Monument.
Mr. Bowers treasures his family, including his wife, Donetta Russell, and their seven children. He is a proud member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; he served a two-year mission in Mexico.
A fourth-generation Arizonan, he grew up on a sheep ranch in Chino Valley. He was moved to support the Pioneer Migration Monument because his family directly descended from Mormon pioneers who made the treacherous months-long journey from Utah to settle in Arizona over a century ago. Having walked hundreds of miles through rugged desert terrain and floating wagons and livestock across an unpredictable and rapid river on ferry barges to flee religious persecution, Rusty vividly imagined what his and others’ ancestors endured to be among the first settlers in Arizona.
This journey would have also often included the Honeymoon Trail in many cases, which, among its many points of origin, included the St. George Temple, established in 1877. This Temple was the only place, at the time, where young couples could go to exchange wedding vows and be sealed. Though the journey was arduous for these couples and their chaperones, it was a reprieve from the farm work and, at that time, well-known as a great honeymoon, which is how the trail received its namesake.
The imagery of this history largely inspired every thoughtful and carefully curated element and detail that Rusty put into the monument’s design, including the bell as its focal point that once hung at Lee’s Ferry. This bell symbolizes the thousands of individuals, including members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who crossed the Colorado River in search of a new and better life.
Over the years, the bell has changed hands a few times. It was initially in Fred DuVal’s family for decades after his stepfather, Jack Whitman, acquired it when he and a group of Phoenix businessmen purchased the Lee’s Ferry property in 1964. From there, it was passed onto Kevin DeMenna, a long-time Arizona politico and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who spearheaded the successful effort to pass legislation allowing for the construction and placement of the Pioneer Migration Monument in the Capitol Mall. Now, the bell was placed under the stewardship of Glenn Way, a local entrepreneur and philanthropist, as it waits its permanent home in the Pioneer Migration Monument on the government mall in downtown Phoenix.
