In 1879 the L.D.S. church sent missionary families to San Juan Country to make settlement and better relations with the Indians. These pioneers, led by Silas S. Smith and Platte D. Lyman, came through the Hole in the Rock. The company consisted of 83 wagons, men, women and children. Passage was often cut through solid rock or sandstone. On March 5, 1880 they reached the top of this hill, camped, and worked eight days building a road three miles long to bring the wagons safely to the bottom, a drop of 1,000 feet.