Bonelli's Ferry or Old Bonelli Ferry was a

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

between

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. It was located on the Colorado just above the

Virgin River The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about long.Calculated with Google Maps and Google Earth It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the ...

, near Junction City. The latter was later known as Rioville, Nevada in the late nineteenth century. Both the former sites of the ferry and of Rioville were submerged below

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

, created by a dam on the Colorado River.

History

Bonelli's Ferry replaced Stone's Ferry, 2 miles down river, which was a flatboat ferry established in 1871. Ferry rights were sold to James Thompson who, in 1870, sold them to Daniel Bonelli, a Swiss immigrant and member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

from St. Thomas, Nevada. Bonelli moved his ferry operation up river to near Junction City in 1876, at the mouth of the Virgin River. A wagon and 2 persons were charged $10.00 to cross, and $0.50 for each additional person.Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Press, 1988, p.56 The ferry connected the road to the mining camps like Cerbat and Mineral Park, and to the Hardyville - Prescott Road, in

Mohave County, Arizona Mohave County occupies the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman ...

to the road to the settlements on the Muddy and

s in

and Southwestern

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

that supplied the camps. Bonelli's Ferry was destroyed by a flood in 1904, the same year that Daniel Bonelli died. His son rebuilt and ran the ferry at least until the 1920s.James H. McClintock, ''Mormon Settlement in Arizona; a Record of Peaceful Conquest of the Desert,'' Phoenix, Arizona: Manufacturing Stationers, 1921
/ref> A ferry operated at this site until 1935, when

began to rise behind a dam on the Colorado River.

Today

The sites of Bonelli's Ferry and Rioville are now under

References

External links

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Bonelli's Ferry from about 1900Panoramic 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
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 {{Clark County, Nevada Populated places established in 1876 Ghost towns in Clark County, Nevada History of Nevada Ferries of Arizona Ferries of Nevada Historic sites in Nevada 1876 establishments in Nevada