In 1879, at age 17, Parley R. Butt was one of 26 men who scouted possible routes for the San Juan Mission and established Montezuma Fort. A few months later, he traveled with the main group of pioneers as they blazed the Hole-in-the-Rock road. In 1881 he went back to Parowan, Utah to marry Ency Camilla Bayles. Parley and Ency returned to the Bluff Fort, where they began their family.
Accepting an assignment in the spring of 1887, the Butts, along with several other families, moved 40-50 miles north to the Blue Mountains, where they helped settle the Verdue and Monticello.
On a cold, windy night in October 1897, Ency was chilled and shivering. After popping corn for their seven children, Ency retired early. She remarked that she was grateful for her new sewing machine and her thoughtful children. Tragically, Ency died that night while in labor with her eighth child. The baby also died-unborn. Ency was 33.
One year after Ency's death, Parley married Edith Bayles, Ency's sister. Parley was a cattleman and merchant. He also served as county attorney, sheriff, and school trustee. He died in 1940 at the age of 78.
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