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TheHistory of Utah is an examination of the human history and social activity within thestate ofUtah located in thewestern United States.
Archaeological evidence dates the earliest habitation of humans inUtah to about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Rich people lived near theGreat Basin's swamps and marshes, which has a history of fish, birds, and small game animals. Big game, includingbison,mammoths andground sloths, also were attracted to these water sources. Over the centuries, the mega-fauna died, this population was replaced by the Desert Archaic people, who sheltered in caves near theGreat Salt Lake. Relying more on gathering than the previous Utah residents, their diet was mainly composed ofcattails and other salt tolerant plants such aspickleweed,burro weed andsedge. Red meat appears to have been more of a luxury, although these people used nets and theatlatl to hunt water fowl,ducks, small animals and antelope. Artifacts include nets woven with plant fibers and rabbit skin, woven sandals, gaming sticks, and animal figures made from split-twigs. About 3,500 years ago, lake levels rose and the population of Desert Archaic people appears to have dramatically decreased. The Great Basin may have been almost unoccupied for 1,000 years.
TheFremont culture, named from sites near theFremont River inUtah, lived in what is now north and western Utah and parts ofNevada,Idaho andColorado from approximately 600 to 1300 AD. These people lived in areas close to water sources that had been previously occupied by the Desert Archaic people, and may have had some relationship with them. However, their use of new technologies define them as a distinct people. Fremont technologies include:
Theancient Puebloan culture, also known as the Anasazi, occupied territory adjacent to the Fremont. The ancestral Puebloan culture centered on the present-dayFour Corners area of theSouthwest United States, including theSan Juan River region of Utah.Archaeologists debate when this distinctculture emerged, but cultural development seems to date from about the common era, about 500 years before the Fremont appeared. It is generally accepted that the cultural peak of these people was around the 1200 CE. Ancient Puebloan culture is known for well constructed pithouses and more elaborate adobe and masonry dwellings. They were excellent craftsmen, producingturquoise jewelry and fine pottery. The Puebloan culture was based on agriculture, and the people created and cultivated fields of maize, beans, and squash and domesticated turkeys. They designed and produced elaborate field terracing and irrigation systems. They also built structures, some known askivas, apparently designed solely for cultural and religious rituals.
These two later cultures were roughly contemporaneous, and appear to have established trading relationships. They also shared enough cultural traits that archaeologists believe the cultures may have common roots in the early American Southwest. However, each remained culturally distinct throughout most of their existence. These two well established cultures appear to have been severely impacted by climatic change and perhaps by the incursion of new people in about 1200 CE. Over the next two centuries, the Fremont and ancient Pueblo people may have moved into the American southwest, finding new homes and farmlands in the river drainages of Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico.
In about 1200,Shoshonean speaking peoples entered Utah territory from the west. They may have originated in southern California and moved into the desert environment due to population pressure along the coast. They were an upland people with a hunting and gathering lifestyle utilizing roots and seeds, including thepinyon nut. They were also skillful fishermen, created pottery and raised some crops. When they first arrived in Utah, they lived as small family groups with little tribal organization. Four main Shoshonean peoples inhabited Utah country. TheShoshone in the north and northeast, theGosiutes in the northwest, theUtes in the central and eastern parts of the region and the SouthernPaiutes in the southwest. Initially, there seems to have been very little conflict between these groups.
In the early 16th century, theSan Juan River basin in Utah's southeast also saw a new people, the Díne orNavajo, part of a greater group of plainsAthabaskan speakers moved into the Southwest from the Great Plains. In addition to the Navajo, this language group contained people that were later known asApaches, including the Lipan, Jicarilla, and Mescalero Apaches.
Athabaskans were a hunting people who initially followed the bison, and were identified in 16th-century Spanish accounts as "dog nomads". The Athabaskans expanded their range throughout the 17th century, occupying areas the Pueblo peoples had abandoned during prior centuries. The Spanish first specifically mention the "Apachu de Nabajo" (Navaho) in the 1620s, referring to the people in the Chama valley region east of the San Juan River, and north west of Santa Fe. By the 1640s, the term Navaho was applied to these same people. Although the Navajo newcomers established a generally peaceful trading and cultural exchange with the some modern Pueblo peoples to the south, they experienced intermittent warfare with the Shoshonean peoples, particularly the Utes in eastern Utah and western Colorado.
At the time of European expansion, beginning with Spanish explorers traveling from Mexico, five distinct native peoples occupied territory within the Utah area: the NorthernShoshone, theGoshute, theUte, thePaiute and theNavajo.
TheSpanish explorerFrancisco Vázquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendaryCíbola.
A group led by two SpanishCatholic priests—sometimes called theDomínguez–Escalante expedition—leftSanta Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to theCalifornia coast. The expedition traveled as far north asUtah Lake and encountered the native residents. All of what is now Utah was claimed by theSpanish Empire from the 1500s to 1821 as part ofNew Spain (later as the provinceAlta California); and subsequently claimed byMexico from 1821 to 1848. However, Spain and Mexico had little permanent presence in, or control of, the region. Modern Utah nonetheless has many Spanish-language place names (e.g.,San Juan County andSanpete County; and the cities ofEscalante,Salina,Santa Clara orLa Verkin).
Fur trappers (also known as mountain men) includingJim Bridger, explored some regions of Utah in the early 19th century. The city ofProvo was named for one such man,Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city ofOgden, Utah is named for a brigade leader of theHudson's Bay Company,Peter Skene Ogden who trapped in the Weber Valley. In 1846, a year before the arrival of members from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, the ill-fatedDonner Party crossed through the Salt Lake valley late in the season, deciding not to stay the winter there but to continue forward to California, and beyond.
Emigrant members ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known asMormon pioneers, (and today as theMormons) were encouraged in their choice to settle in theGreat Basin and theGreat Basin Desert by the favorable descriptions of theGreat Salt Lake and surroundingSalt Lake Valley that had been written by Western explorer, surveyor / mapmaker andUnited States Army officerJohn C. Frémont. (1813-1899),[1]Brigham Young and an accompanying group of pioneers traveling westward across theGreat Plains fromMissouri. andIllinois and first centered theSalt Lake Valley on July 24,1847.[2] At the time, the U.S. military with simultaneous Army expedition from the east intoSanta Fe, the longtime provincial capital ofRoyal Spanish colony, then later independentCentralist Republic of Mexico's major town ofNew Mexico. The American army column moved later further west into California plus a naval squadron from the west anchored offshore in thePacific Ocean to invade California. So quickly did the U.S. already captured the northwesternMexican provinces ofAlta California (Upper California) andNew Mexico in this briefMexican–American War of 1846-1848, and planned to keep them. Further south separate joint American army and naval units invaded Mexico from the east on theGulf of Mexico coast marching inland and after some spirited battles, occupied their capital ofMexico City upon their later surrender. New territories, including the future Territory and later State of Utah, officially became United States territory in theMexican Cession (of the northwestern one-third of their country) on the peace negotiations and signing of theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, which was subsequently ratified by theUnited States Senate a month later on March 10, 1848.
Upon arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormon pioneers led by Young found no permanent settlement of Indians.[3] Other areas along theWasatch Range of mountains were occupied at the time of settlement by theNorthwestern Shoshone and adjacent areas by other bands of Shoshone such as theGosiute. The Northwestern Shoshone lived in the valleys on the eastern shore of Great Salt Lake and in adjacent mountain valleys. Some years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley Mormons, who went on to colonize many other areas of what is now Utah, were petitioned by Indians for recompense for land taken and occupied. The response ofHeber C. Kimball, first counselor to Brigham Young, was that the land belonged to "our Father in Heaven and we expect to plow and plant it."[4] A 1945United States Supreme Court decision found that the land had been treated by the United States as public domain; no aboriginal title by the Northwestern Shoshone had been recognized by the United States or extinguished by treaty with the United States.[5][6]
Upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormons had to make a place to live. They created irrigation systems, for the dry desert lands, laid out farms, built houses, churches, and schools within just a few years. Access to water was crucially important. Almost immediately,Brigham Young set out to identify and claim additional community sites. While it was difficult to find large areas in theGreat Basin where water sources were dependable and growing seasons long enough to raise vitally important subsistence crops, satellite communities began to be formed.[7]
Shortly after the first company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, the community ofBountiful was settled further to the north. In 1848, settlers moved into lands purchased from trapperMiles Goodyear in present-dayOgden. In 1849, towns ofTooele andProvo were founded. Also that year, at the invitation ofUte chiefWakara, settlers moved into theSanpete Valley in central Utah to establish the community ofManti.Fillmore, Utah, intended to be the capital of the new territory, was established in 1851. In 1855, missionary efforts aimed at western native cultures led to outposts inFort Lemhi, Idaho,Las Vegas (in futureNevada), and theElk Mountain in east-central Utah.
The experiences of returning members of theMormon Battalion were also important in establishing new communities. On their journey west, the Mormon soldiers had identified dependable rivers and fertile river valleys in Colorado, Arizona and southern California. In addition, as the men traveled to rejoin their families in the Salt Lake Valley, they moved through southern Nevada and the eastern segments of southern Utah. Jefferson Hunt, a senior Mormon officer of the Battalion, actively searched for settlement sites, minerals, and other resources. His report encouraged 1851 settlement efforts inIron County, near present-dayCedar City. These southern explorations eventually led to extended Mormon settlements inSt. George, Utah,Las Vegas,Nevada, andSan Bernardino, California, as well as communities in southernArizona Territory
Prior to establishment of the Oregon and California trails and Mormon settlement, Indians native to the Salt Lake Valley and adjacent areas lived by huntingbuffalo and other game, but also gathered grass seed from the bountiful grass of the area as well as roots such as those of theIndian Camas. By the time of settlement, indeed before 1840, the buffalo were gone from the valley, but hunting by settlers and grazing of cattle severely impacted the Indians in the area, and as settlement expanded into nearby river valleys and oases, indigenous tribes experienced increasing difficulty in gathering sufficient food. Brigham Young's counsel was to feed the hungry tribes, and that was done, but it was often not enough. These tensions formed the background to theBear River massacre committed by California Militia stationed in Salt Lake City during the Civil War. The site of the massacre is just inside Preston, Idaho, but was generally thought to be within Utah at the time.[8]
Statehood was petitioned for in 1849-50 using the nameDeseret. The proposedState of Deseret would have been quite large, encompassing all of what is now Utah, and portions of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico and California. The name of Deseret was favored by the LDS leader Brigham Young as a symbol of industry and was derived from a reference in theBook of Mormon. The petition was rejected by Congress and Utah did not become a state until 1896, following theUtah Constitutional Convention of 1895.
In 1850, theUtah Territory was created with theCompromise of 1850, andFillmore (named after President Fillmore) was designated the capital. In 1856, Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the territorial capital.
The first group of pioneers brought African slaves with them, making Utah the only place in the western United States to have African slavery.[9] Three slaves, Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, came west with this first group in 1847.[10] The settlers also began to purchase Indian slaves in the well-established Indian slave trade,[11] as well as enslaving Indian prisoners of war.[12][page needed][13] In 1850, 26 slaves were counted in Salt Lake County.[14] Slavery didn't become officially recognized until 1852, when theAct in Relation to Service and theAct for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners were passed. Slavery was repealed on June 19, 1862, when Congressprohibited slavery in all US territories.
Disputes between theMormon inhabitants and the federal government intensified afterthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' practice of polygamy became known. The polygamous practices of the Mormons, which were made public in 1854, would be one of the major reasons Utah was denied statehood until almost 50 years after the Mormons had entered the area.
After news of their polygamous practices spread, the members of the LDS Church were quickly viewed by some as un-American and rebellious. In 1857, after news of a possible rebellion spread, PresidentJames Buchanan sent troops on the Utah expedition to quell the growing unrest and to replaceBrigham Young as territorial governor withAlfred Cumming. The expedition was also known as theUtah War.
As fear of invasion grew, Mormon settlers had convinced somePaiute Indians to aid in a Mormon-led attack on 120 immigrants from Arkansas under the guise of Indian aggression. The murder of these settlers became known as theMountain Meadows massacre. The Mormon leadership had adopted a defensive posture that led to a ban on the selling of grain to outsiders in preparation for an impending war. This chafed pioneers traveling through the region, who were unable to purchase badly needed supplies. A disagreement between some of the Arkansas pioneers and the Mormons in Cedar City led to the secret planning of the massacre by a few Mormon leaders in the area. Some scholars debate the involvement of Brigham Young.[15][16] Only one man,John D. Lee, was ever convicted of the murders, and he was executed at the massacre site.
Express riders had brought the news 1,000 miles from the Missouri River settlements to Salt Lake City within about two weeks of the army's beginning to march west. Fearing the worst as 2,500 troops (roughly 1/3rd of the army then) led by GeneralAlbert Sidney Johnston started west, Brigham Young ordered all residents of Salt Lake City and neighboring communities to prepare their homes for burning and evacuate southward toUtah Valley and southern Utah. Young also sent out a few units of theNauvoo Legion (numbering roughly 8,000–10,000), to delay the army's advance. The majority he sent into the mountains to prepare defenses or south to prepare for a scorched earth retreat. Although some army wagon supply trains were captured and burned and herds of army horses and cattle run off no serious fighting occurred. Starting late and short on supplies, the United States Army camped during the bitter winter of 1857–58 near a burned outFort Bridger in Wyoming. Through the negotiations between emissaryThomas L. Kane, Young, Cumming and Johnston, control of Utah territory was peacefully transferred to Cumming, who entered an eerily vacant Salt Lake City in the spring of 1858. By agreement with Young, Johnston established the army at Fort Floyd 40 miles away from Salt Lake City, to the southwest.
Salt Lake City was the last link of theFirst Transcontinental Telegraph, betweenCarson City, Nevada andOmaha, Nebraska completed in October 1861. Brigham Young, who had helped expedite construction, was among the first to send a message, along withAbraham Lincoln and other officials.[17] Soon after the telegraph line was completed, theDeseret Telegraph Company built the Deseret line connecting the settlements in the territory with Salt Lake City and, by extension, the rest of the United States.[18]
Because of theAmerican Civil War, federal troops were pulled out of Utah Territory (and their fort auctioned off), leaving the territorial government in federal hands without army backing until GeneralPatrick E. Connor arrived with the 3rd Regiment of California Volunteers in 1862. While in Utah, Connor and his troops soon became discontent with this assignment wanting to head to Virginia where the "real" fighting and glory was occurring. Connor established Fort Douglas just three miles (5 km) east of Salt Lake City and encouraged his bored and often idle soldiers to go out and explore for mineral deposits to bring more non-Mormons into the state. Minerals were discovered inTooele County, and some miners began to come to the territory. Conner also solved the Shoshone Indian problem inCache Valley Utah by luring the Shoshone into a midwinter confrontation on January 29, 1863. The armed conflict quickly turned into a rout, discipline among the soldiers broke down, and the Battle of Bear River is today usually referred to by historians as theBear River Massacre. Between 200 and 400 Shoshone men, women and children were killed, as were 27 soldiers, with over 50 more soldiers wounded or suffering from frostbite.
Beginning in 1865,Utah's Black Hawk War developed into the deadliest conflict in the territory's history. ChiefAntonga Black Hawk died in 1870, but fights continued to break out until additional federal troops were sent in to suppress theGhost Dance of 1872. The war is unique amongIndian Wars because it was a three-way conflict, with mounted TimpanogosUtes led by Antonga Black Hawk fighting federal and Utah local militia.
On May 10, 1869, theFirst transcontinental railroad was completed atPromontory Summit, north of theGreat Salt Lake.[19] The railroad brought increasing numbers of people into the state, and several influential businessmen made fortunes in the territory.[who?]
During the 1870s and 1880s, federal laws were passed and federal marshals assigned to enforce the laws against polygamy. In the1890 Manifesto, the LDS Church leadership dropped its approval of polygamy citing divine revelation. When Utah applied for statehood again in 1895, it was accepted. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896.
The Mormon issue made the situation for women the topic of nationwide controversy. In 1870 theUtah Territory, controlled by Mormons, gave women the right to vote. However, in 1887, Congress disenfranchised Utah women with theEdmunds–Tucker Act. In 1867–96, eastern activists promoted women's suffrage in Utah as an experiment, and as a way to eliminate polygamy. They were Presbyterians and other Protestants convinced that Mormonism was a non-Christian cult that grossly mistreated women.[20] The Mormons promoted woman suffrage to counter the negative image of downtrodden Mormon women. With the 1890 Manifesto clearing the way for statehood, in 1895 Utah adopted a constitution restoring the right of women's suffrage. Congress admitted Utah as a state with that constitution in 1896.[21]
Though less numerous than otherintermountain states at the time,[22] severallynching murders for alleged misdeeds occurred in Utah territory at the hand ofvigilantes.[23] Those documented include the following, with their ethnicity or national origin noted in parentheses if it was provided in the source:[23]
Other lynchings in Utah territory include multiple instances ofmass murder ofNative American children, women, and men byWhite settlers including theBattle Creek massacre (1849),[26]Provo River Massacre (1850),[12]: 65 Nephi massacre (1853),[27] andCircleville Massacre (1866).[28]
Beginning in the early 20th century, with the establishment of such national parks asBryce Canyon National Park andZion National Park, Utah began to become known for its natural beauty. Southern Utah became a popular filming spot for arid, rugged scenes, and such natural landmarks asDelicate Arch and "the Mittens" ofMonument Valley are instantly recognizable to most national residents. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with the construction of theInterstate highway system, accessibility to the southern scenic areas was made easier.[29]
Beginning in 1939, with the establishment ofAlta Ski Area, Utah has become world-renowned for its skiing. The dry, powdery snow of theWasatch Range is considered some of the best skiing in the world. Salt Lake City won the bid for the2002 Winter Olympics in 1995, and this has served as a great boost to the economy. The ski resorts have increased in popularity, and many of the Olympic venues scattered across theWasatch Front continue to be used for sporting events. This also spurred the development of the light-rail system in theSalt Lake Valley, known asTRAX, and the re-construction of the freeway system around the city.
During the late 20th century, the state grew quickly. In the 1970s, growth was phenomenal in the suburbs.Sandy was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country at that time, andWest Valley City is the state's 2nd most populous city. Today, many areas of Utah are seeing phenomenal growth. NorthernDavis, southern and westernSalt Lake,Summit, easternTooele,Utah,Wasatch, andWashington counties are all growing very quickly.Transportation andurbanization are major issues in politics as development consumes agricultural land and wilderness areas.
The State of Utah passed theUtah Transfer of Public Lands Act in 2012 in an attempt to gain control over a substantial portion offederal land in the state from thefederal government, based on language in theUtah Enabling Act of 1894. The State does not intend to use force or assert control by limiting access in an attempt to control the disputed lands, but does intend to use a multi-step process ofeducation,negotiation,legislation, and if necessary,litigation as part of its multi-year effort to gain state or private control over the lands after 2014.[30][31]
During a debate atUtah Valley University on September 10, 2025, conservative political activistCharlie Kirk wasassassinated.
Utah families, like most Americans everywhere, did their utmost to assist in the war effort. Tires, meat, butter, sugar, fats, oils, coffee, shoes, boots, gasoline, canned fruits, vegetables, and soups were rationed on a national basis. The school day was shortened and bus routes were reduced to limit the number of resources used stateside and increase what could be sent to soldiers.[32]
Geneva Steel was built to increase the steel production for America duringWorld War II.President Franklin D. Roosevelt had proposed opening a steel mill inUtah in 1936, but the idea was shelved after a couple of months. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war and the steel plant was put into progress. In April 1944, Geneva shipped its first order, which consisted of over 600 tons of steel plate. Geneva Steel also brought thousands of job opportunities to Utah. The positions were hard to fill as many of Utah's men were overseas fighting. Women began working, filling 25 percent of the jobs.
As a result of Utah's and Geneva Steels contribution during the war, severalLiberty Ships were named in honor of Utah including the USS Joseph Smith, USS Brigham Young,USS Provo, and the USS Peter Skene Ogden.
One of the sectors of the beachhead ofNormandy Landings was codenamedUtah Beach, and the amphibious landings at the beach were undertaken byUnited States Army troops.
It is estimated that 1,450 soldiers from Utah were killed in the war.[33]
Fremont's enthusiastic description of the valley of the Great Salt Lake did much to encourage Brigham Young to bring the Mormons to the Great Basin to settle.
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