Bonelli's Ferry or Old Bonelli Ferry was a

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

ferry between

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. 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 th ...

, 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. ...

, created by a dam on the Colorado River.

History

Bonelli's Ferry replaced Stone's Ferry, 2 miles down river, which was a

flatboat A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with ...

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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

from

St. Thomas, Nevada St. Thomas, Nevada is a ghost town in Clark County, Nevada, near where the Muddy River flows into the Colorado River. St. Thomas was purchased by the US Federal Government and abandoned as the waters of Lake Mead submerged the town in the 1930 ...

. 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 is in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is the fifth largest county in the United S ...

to the road to the settlements on the Muddy and

s in

and Southwestern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

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

* *
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