Salvation Knoll is located on highway 95. It is marked with a sign that reads:
During the winter of 1879-1880 Mormon Pioneers brought their wagons over
this practically impassable terrain to colonize the four-corners area of
Utah. This trek ranks as one of the most arduous pioneer treks in the history
of the west, but miraculously all the pioneers survived the journey. This
pioneer company became known as the "hole-in-the-rockers" because
they had to lower their wagons through a hole (cleft) in the rock high above
the Colorado River. They spent forty days cutting and blasting into the
rock to build a wagon road to the River 1000 feet below. Today Highway 261
roughly follows part of the trail. The trail comes close to Fry canyon at
Salvation Knoll.
At the call of Mormon church leaders in 1878, a company of pioneers was
sent to colonize the San Juan Valley in South eastern Utah. Throughout the
winter of 1879-1880 these Mormon pioneers built a wagon road, thorough the
terribly rugged terrain between Escalante, Utah and the Four Corners area.
As the main body of pioneers labored to widen the treacherous decent through
the "Hole" or cleft in the rock above the Colorado River Gorge,
four advance scouts traveled through this area, searching for the most feasible
route between the Colorado River and Montezuma Creek. By the time the scouts
reached this area they were lost and out of food. On Christmas morning 1879,
George Hobbs climbed tot he top of this knoll searching for a recognizable
landmark. Hobbs recorded: "This was surly salvation knoll. For looking
to the northeast ... I discovered the Blue Mountains about ten miles away.
This was the landmark we had been looking for for several days." Although
hindered by sever winter storms, the scouts George Hobbs, George Morell,
Lemuel Redd, and George Sevey succeeded in plotting a wagon route through
some of the most difficult terrain in North America.
Comb ridge proved to be a serious barrier to the "hole-in-the-rockers"
They traveled parallel to the ridge looking for a way across, but they didn't
find one until they came close to the San Juan River. It remained practically
impassable until the present day cut for highway 95 was made in 1976. Before
the cut was finished it was a day long journey in a Jeep to get to Fry Canyon.
The old road is visible to the north of the present cut. It clings to the
side of the ridge for an 800 foot climb. Comb Ridge is an eroded monocline
(a bend in the earths crust). The ridge runs north and south 80 miles from
the Abajo Mountains to Kayenta Arizona.