Bonelli's Ferry

Bonelli's Ferry or Old Bonelli Ferry was a Colorado River ferry between Arizona and Nevada, located on the Colorado just above the Virgin River near to Junction City, later known as Rioville, Nevada in the late nineteenth century.

History

Bonelli's Ferry replaced Stone's Ferry, 2 miles down river, when the flatboat ferry at Stones Ferry was bought by a Mormon settler from St. Thomas, Nevada named Daniel Bonelli in 1870. He moved up river to near Junction City in 1876 at the mouth of the Virgin River.^[1] The ferry boat was pulled over the river by a man with a rope line. A wagon and 2 persons were charged $10.00 to cross, and $0.50 for each additional person.^[2] The ferry connected the road to the mining camps like Cerbat and Mineral Park, and to the Hardyville - Prescott Road, in Mohave County, Arizona to the road to the settlements on the Muddy and Virgin Rivers in Nevada and Southwestern Utah that supplied the camps.

Bonelli's Ferry was destroyed by a flood in 1904, the same year Daniel Bonelli died.^[1] However his son, rebuilt and ran the ferry at least until the 1920s.^[3]:97 A ferry remained in use at the site until 1935 when Lake Mead began to rise.

Today

The site of Bonelli's Ferry like that of Rioville is now under Lake Mead.^[1]

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Old Bonelli Ferry (historical)
2. Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Press, 1988, p.56
3. James H. McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona; a Record of Peaceful Conquest of the Desert, Manufacturing Stationers, Phoenix, Arizona, 1921

Coordinates: 36°08′55″N 114°24′53″W / 36.1485934°N 114.4146959°W

External links

• Bonelli's Landing from quehoposse.org
  • Bonelli's Ferry from about 1900
• Panoramic photograph of Bonelli's Ferry on the Colorado River, before 1935 from UNLV Libraries Digital Collections
• Ferry above the mouth of Rio Virgin, 1890, Photographer: Robert Brewster Stanton, 1846-1922 from http://hdl.huntington.org, The Otis Marston Colorado River Collection, Huntington Digital Library

Photographer Stanton, Robert Brewster, 1846-1922

• Old ranch house at Bonelli's Ferry from http://hdl.huntington.org, The Otis Marston Colorado River Collection, Huntington Digital Library
• Bonelli's home at the mouth of Rio Virgin, 1890, Photographer: Robert Brewster Stanton, 1846-1922 from http://hdl.huntington.org, The Otis Marston Colorado River Collection, Huntington Digital Library
• Old ranch house at Bonelli's Ferry. from http://hdl.huntington.org, The Otis Marston Colorado River Collection, Huntington Digital Library
• Old Bonelli house at the mouth of the Virgin River seen from the river from http://hdl.huntington.org, The Otis Marston Colorado River Collection, Huntington Digital Library