Grand River Ferry at Moab about 1900. (Dan O'Laurie Museum)
rather primitive one, at that-to a difficult journey of more than 100 miles to Salina, Richfield, or Manti and then beyond to the other settlements in Utah. A difficult and dangerous route snaked over the foothills of the La Sals to Ouray and other Colorado towns to the east. The first ferryboat at Moab was a small, oar-powered, 28-footlong craft; wagons had to be dismantled before they could be transported by the boat across the river. Soon Taylor built a larger boat with the aid of John Gordon; the new boat, thought to have been constructed in 1884,was more than twice the size of the previous ferryboat and was able to accomodate a wagon and its team of horses or oxen plus additional people or animals. It was attached to a cable and was much safer and more reliable than the first boat, although it was still vulnerable to mishaps and accidents. The ferry was an important aid to transportation in the region of primitive roads and cattle trails. Drownings at both the Grand and Green rivers have been a frequent occurrence since the beginning of newspapers in the area-it is reasonable to assume that they also happened regularly before reporters noted them. In fact, it is said that when the Taylor family came to Moab they saw the corpses of two
