Edwin D. Woolley, Jr. Collection

Edwin D. Woolley Jr. was born April 30, 1846 in Nauvoo, Illinois. He went west with his parents as part of the great Mormon western migration and moved to the valley of the Great Salt Lake with his family, arriving in September 1848. He was involved in early skirmished with regional Indian tribes and saw service in the Black-Hawk War. When he was 20 years old he was sent to colonize southern Utah. He married Emma Bentley on March 9, 1867 and they made their home in St. George, Utah. He married his second wife, Florence Snow, some 10 years later and shortly thereafter served a mission to England. In 1882 Edwin Woolley and his family moved to Kanab, Utah where he served as Stake President for many years and made his living as a rancher and business man. He was involved in cattle ranching, the wool and sheep industry, commerce, water development, mining, tourism and an experimental venture in raising cattle-buffalo highbreds known at that time as catalo [sometimes cataloe]. He was very active in the economic development of south eastern Utah and the Arizona strip and was instrumental in getting the first roads constructed in that part of the state. His promotion of the area was instrumental in the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park. Woolley died on July 20, 1920.