Overlooking the Confluence from the eastern rim of the Grand Canyon.
The Confluence refers to the point where the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River meet in northern Arizona.
This point is about 13 miles north of the easternmost observation point on the South Rim, known as Hopi Point. Off Highway 89, it is a slow, rugged 2-hour drive over rock-strewn dirt roads. Along the route are numerous hogans made of rock by Navajos in the early 1800s, as well as a progression of traditional hogans built throughout the 20th century, including during the time of The Bennett Freeze. Below is an interactive map to explore the area.
Those who chose to live out here are among the strongest and most self-sufficient people anywhere on the Navajo Nation. During a fierce winter snowstorm in the late 1960s, Navajos living here were snowed in, and unable to get to the main roads or Tuba City. That did not bother them. They dug in and survived. When a National Guard helicopter arrived and began dropping bales of hay for livestock, and emergency food supplies for the people, one grandmother got out her shotgun and threatened to shoot at the chopper. Why? It was scaring her sheep.
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