Hole-in-the-Rock

An Epic in the Colonization of the Great American West

First published in 1962, David E. Miller’s award-winning work on the Hole-in-the-Rock episode was arguably his greatest achievement as a historian. One of the great set-pieces of Mormon history, the San Juan Mission had become clouded by myth and hagiography when Miller first became attracted to its study in the 1950s, and few reliable sources were at that time available.

Not content with exhausting archival material, Miller contacted all locatable descendants of the members of the original party, and thereby brought to light a great number of previously unexploited sources. The Hole-in-the-Rock study achieved additional depth from his intimate knowledge of the actual trail acquired on repeated traverses by Jeep and on foot.

A member of the LDS Church, Miller wrote of the Mormons with sympathy and understanding, but with a commitment as well to the critical standards of the historical profession.

A must-read for anyone interested in American History.