Navajos5 Mormons, and Henry L. Mitchell: Cauldron of Conflict on the San Juan BY ROBERT S. MCPHERSON
Monoliths dot the landscape of Monument Valley, south of the San Juan River in southeastern Utah. USHS collections.
through the deserts and canyon lands of southeastern Utah, presenting a challenge to those who want to use its water. Yet, in the spring of 1879, for the Mormon exploring party searching for a place to settle, this river provided the only large and continuous source of water for crops and livestock. Silas S. Smith, leader of this group, must have been surprised when he ventured into T H E SAN J U A N R I V E R WINDS ITS WAY
M r . McPherson teaches for the College of Eastern U t a h — S a n J u a n Campus. He expresses appreciation to the Brigham Young University History Department for providing research funds through the William J . Snow Award. A version of this paper was presented at the 1986 annual meeting of the Utah State Historical Society.
