Qualla: San Juan Expedition https://qualla.com/san-juan-expedition en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:04 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/9/5/san-juan-expedition-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: San Juan Expedition https://qualla.com/san-juan-expedition San Juan Expedition: Introduction https://qualla.com/san-juan-expedition/ Photo credit User:G. Thomas, Public domain. A journey planned for six weeks took six months. Nobody died, and three babies were born along the way. The San Juan Expedition of 1879-1880, also known as the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition, remains one of the most audacious overland crossings in American frontier history: more than 200 Mormon settlers, 83 wagons, and over a thousand head of livestock threading through some of the most impassable terrain on the continent, including a narrow crack in a cliff face that they blasted and chiseled into a wagon road descending to the Colorado River.

Read more: San Juan Expedition on Qualla

Image: User:G. Thomas | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/9/5/san-juan-expedition-wp/9w95-san-juan-expedition-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full San Juan Expedition: The Shortcut That Wasn't https://qualla.com/san-juan-expedition/ Photo credit User:G. Thomas, Public domain. After arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, the Mormons steadily expanded their settlements through central and southeastern Utah. In 1878, church leaders decided to establish a colony east of the Colorado River in the Four Corners area, appointing Silas S. Smith and Jens Nie...

Read more: San Juan Expedition on Qualla

Image: User:G. Thomas | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/9/5/san-juan-expedition-wp/9w95-san-juan-expedition-the-shortcut-that-wasnt.mp3 0:06 2 full San Juan Expedition: Blasting a Road Through Stone https://qualla.com/san-juan-expedition/ Photo credit User:G. Thomas, Public domain. In the fall of 1879, the expedition assembled at a spring at the head of Fortymile Gulch, between the deep canyons of the Escalante River Basin and the cliffs of the Kaiparowits Plateau. An advance party scouted ahead for a river crossing and found it at a place where a narrow cr...

Read more: San Juan Expedition on Qualla

Image: User:G. Thomas | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/9/5/san-juan-expedition-wp/9w95-san-juan-expedition-blasting-a-road-through-stone.mp3 0:06 3 full San Juan Expedition: The Descent Nobody Forgot https://qualla.com/san-juan-expedition/ Photo credit User:G. Thomas, Public domain. On January 26, 1880, the main expedition began lowering itself through the Hole-in-the-Rock. People and livestock climbed down the crevice on foot. Wagons descended with brakes locked while 10 to 20 men gripped ropes to control the speed. A wooden trackway at the bottom provided ...

Read more: San Juan Expedition on Qualla

Image: User:G. Thomas | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/9/5/san-juan-expedition-wp/9w95-san-juan-expedition-the-descent-nobody-forgot.mp3 0:06 4 full San Juan Expedition: The Maze on the Other Side https://qualla.com/san-juan-expedition/ Photo credit User:G. Thomas, Public domain. The real hardship began east of the Colorado. A labyrinth of canyons, mesas, and cliffs extending between the Colorado and San Juan Rivers made the terrain nearly impassable. The deep slot canyons of Grand Gulch forced the expedition far to the north, adding weeks to the journey....

Read more: San Juan Expedition on Qualla

Image: User:G. Thomas | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/9/5/san-juan-expedition-wp/9w95-san-juan-expedition-the-maze-on-the-other-side.mp3 0:06 5 full San Juan Expedition: A Road Used Once and a Legacy That Lasted https://qualla.com/san-juan-expedition/ Photo credit G. Thomas at en.wikipedia, Public domain. The Hole-in-the-Rock route served as a supply road for just one year before Charles Hall moved his ferry to an easier crossing further north, at what became known as Halls Crossing. The route was simply too difficult for regular use. But the expedition's story endured far longer ...

Read more: San Juan Expedition on Qualla

Image: G. Thomas at en.wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/9/5/san-juan-expedition-wp/9w95-san-juan-expedition-a-road-used-once-and-a-legacy-that-lasted.mp3 0:06 6 full