Original settlers house, Cliff Dwellers, Arizona

Remains of the original settler’s house, Cliff Dwellers, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona. In 1920 Blanche and Bill Russell established a small trading post at Cliff Dwellers, after crossing the Colorado River at Lees Ferry. The remains of their original home is now occupied only by rattlesnakes and the occasional rodents, although souvenir sellers find it a lucrative spot to set up a stand. For many years it served as a restaurant, bar, and gas station, serving ranch hands driving cattle to the Arizona Plateau, and travellers heading to and from Navajo Bridge near Lees Ferry, the only crossing of the Colorado River for many miles. In the 1950’s a new lodge was opened a few miles down the road, and the old Cliff Dwellers settlement was left to decay gradually while travellers along Route 89 stop to marvel at the huge boulders that form part of the building.

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