Archives West Finding Aid

BIOGRAPHY OF ARTHUR L. CRAWFORD

(taken from his obituary in the DESERET NEWS, November 24, 1980)

Arthur L. Crawford was born in 1899 and died November 22, 1980, at age 81. During his life he accomplished many things, such as being one of the original founders of the Utah Geological and Mineralogical Survey, of which he was the assistant director. Mr. Crawford was director of the Cooperative Microscopic and Service Laboratory at the University of Utah and served as raw materials engineer at the Geneva Steel Co., Provo [Utah]. He was also commissioner of the Utah State Department of Publicity and Industrial Development. He was a faculty member at the University of Utah (1924-1964), Brigham Young University, and the University of Wyoming. He attended Dixie College and BYU and completed graduate work at Stanford University. He was a member of Signa Xi and Phi Kappa Phi. Mr. Crawford was a member of the Geological Society of America, the American Mineralogical Society, the Utah Geological Society, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

HISTORY OF THE HITE FERRY ROAD

The crossing of the Colorado River at Hite, Utah, was part of an ancient Native American trail, but was first used by Anglos after Cass Hite settled there in the 1880s. It was the only practical crossing of the river for over two hundred miles in either direction, and was such a convenient crossing that one of the early names was "Dandy Crossing," because it was such a "dandy" place to get across the Colorado. Despite the ease with which travelers could get across the river, however, just getting to the ferry was an ordeal, given the unimproved dirt roads that were common in the area. It was over seventy miles to the nearest community, and the road was little more than a trail. In 1932 Arthur L. Chaffin bought a ranch near the crossing and soon established a ferry using an automobile engine for power. He set about lobbying the Utah State government to improve the road that ran from Hanksville, Utah, to Blanding, Utah, and soon after World War II his efforts were rewarded when the Utah State Department of Publicity and Industrial Development spent $60,000 on road improvements. This road later became Utah 95, but was not fully paved until the 1970s.