Parley Butt joined the five-month expedition to find a settlement site and route to it at age 17, then returned to his family in Parowan, Utah, and later traveled to Bluff with the other Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers alongside his brother Dick (Willard) Butt. During the difficult journey, Parley moved from camp to camp helping families with their children, cooking, and other chores, while Dick, age 21 and single, oversaw the company's large collective cattle herd. After a year in Bluff, Parley returned to Parowan, courted his sweetheart Ency Bayles, married her in the St. George Temple, and made Bluff their home. Ency was a devoted mother, but in 1897, at age 33, she developed a cough while playing one evening with their seven children, went into convulsions shortly after going to bed, and died. In 1898 Parley married Edith Bayles, Ency's sister, who cared for her sister's children and had five children with Parley, three of whom reached adulthood. Parley and Dick farmed, raised cattle, and established a dairy and sawmill, and they also helped establish Verdure and Monticello north of Bluff. Dick married Julia Nielson, one of Jens and Elsie Nielson's daughters, and because they wanted a temple marriage they traveled 400 miles to and from the St. George Temple. They had four children, all of whom reached adulthood. Around 1889 Dick became the first county-appointed sheriff, earning $100 per year, after a time when the office had been unpaid, temporary, and rotated among the men. Because San Juan County was remote, it became a refuge for men avoiding the law, and Dick became known for bravery, wisdom, and fairness. His home was a place where arrested criminals were fed and cared for by Julia, and Julia and Dick also readily helped weary travelers without seeking compensation.