The McConkies Assemble in Bluff for the 2011 Reunion.

On June 3, 2011 The family of Oscar and Vivian McConkie assembled in Bluff for ATV riding, line dancing, touring, trail blazing and other great activities.  Here I present some of the pictures from that outing.

I begin with some of the images from Bluff fort.

This old wagon actually came down the Hole in the Rock with the original pioneers.

Another view.   That's Micah and LuAnn Adams in the background preparing lunch.

You were asking where I got my information?  Its that sign.

 
This is the first Relief Society building in Bluff.  OK it isn't the original it is a reconstruction, but it is rather like the original up to a few details.

Family members begin to gather.  In the backgound you can see Marcinelle talking to one of the cousins.  [Can you tell who it is?]  At the table beginning at the upper left and going clockwise, Jennifer Hoopes, Vivian Adams, Micah Adams, Leslie Layton, Marie Adams, Luann Adams, Danielle "Franchise" Maddox, Rebecca Adams, Anna Lisa Maddox.

A cute pose by Jennifer Hoopes.

Flowers by the kitchen.

Hollyhocks by the kitchen

The Bowery by the visitor's center.

This looks like one of those funny mounds of dirt you see all along the highway on the way from Price to Bluff.  But this pile of dirt is not what it seems.

A Navajo hogan by the visitor's center.  This is the real deal.  The Hole in the Rock pioneers were sent to make peace and create a buffer between waring Indian tribes.

Inside the hogan looking up.

More detail on the inside of the hogan showing its construction.

Here is where you will sit for the tribal council.  You did remember to bring some wampum?

Does this view make you dizzy?

This old wagon came from Germany.  It is from the pioneer era, but follows German engineering.  We called it the Mercedes wagon, as opposed to the Conestoga.

A reconstructed pioneer cart.

An authentic pioneer wagon.  The pallets of rock in rows behind the wagon and in other places in the fort came from the (Kumen Jones?)*  home which was recently torn down.  Kumen Jones was one of the Hole in the Rock pioneers and an early bishop in Bluff.  Grant Taylor told me that they were hoping to use the stone to rebuild the Bluff co-op, but they were having problems and it turned out to be the wrong kind of stone or something.  They have raised some odd hundred thousand dollars to rebuild the co-op, but are still something like 20% short of their goal.  Does anyone recall the actual numbers?

* not the Kumen Jones home on the site.

Now that's a Conestoga!

 A view inside the Conestoga.  In the background is the Barton cabin.

Another view inside the wagon.  Can you imagine sleeping in here?  Well you didn't get to.  You got to sleep under it.

This stone, found at the foot of one of the pillars holding up the Bowery in front of the old school house, is the capstone of Fort Bluff.
Arianne White shared a moving testimony, recalling how her mother showed her this stone during the reunion after recalling some of the pioneer stories and saying, "Never be afraid to do hard things."  It left a lasting impression on us all.

Keziah Adams pulling the bell rope for the school house bell.

Inside the old schoolhouse.

A "Tree of Life" quilt covering a window on the stage inside the old schoolhouse.  This tree of life pattern is an authentic pioneer quilt pattern.

Detail on the Tree of Life quilt.

A view of the schoolhouse from the stage.  This old schoolhouse also served as the first chapel in Bluff and this is where you would stand if you were preaching or giving a talk, as Uncle Oscar and Aunt Margaret did for our family fireside.

Too be continued . . .