Site 9, The Chute
At the top of Cottonwood Hill, the pioneers encountered an extremely rugged area of solid sandstone.  This was the terrain that caused the initial scouts to declare that it was not possible to build a wagon road through such country. At the bottom of a sandstone canyon called Ribbon Canyon, the pioneers used a natural water drainage path for their road which they called The Chute.  Water which had collected in large natural holes in the sandstone sustained the pioneers and their animals. The natural holes have since been referred to as Mormon Tanks.