He constructed a dam and irrigation ditches with the help of many locals and passersby, including members of John Wesley Powell's second Colorado River expedition.

By 1892 there were only eight families left, but for some reason the town was granted a post office that year, under the name Paria.

[2] In later years the film industry became interested in using the picturesque ghost town, with its canyon vista background, as a location for making Westerns.

Several scenes for Buffalo Bill were shot here in 1943, but crews were in a constant struggle against the flooding Paria River.

Visitors often confused this movie set with the real Paria,[3] as it fell into disuse after the filming of The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1975.

After more flash flooding severely damaged the set in 1998, a team of volunteers and employees of the Bureau of Land Management disassembled the wreckage and replaced the structures in 1999–2001.