Dammeron Valley Utah - History

Early Southern Utah History

The early inhabitants (from 100 AD) of the Southern Utah were the Anasazi who were replaced by the Ute, Piute, and Navaho nations. It is believed that in the late 1100s, the Anasazi moved south and are the ancestors of the current day pueblo peoples such as the Hopi, Zuñi, and Taos. The Ute and Piute languages are Uto-Aztecan so it is assumed that they came from Mexico. The Navaho and Apache languages are Athabascan so it is assumed that they came from Canada.

By the time of the Spanish explorations during the 1700s into Southern Utah, the Ute were established in eastern Utah and southwestern Colorado, the Navaho in south eastern Utah and northern Arizona, and Piute in south western Utah, throughout most of Na veda, and mid-eastern California.

The pueblo peoples settled in sizable numbers at permanent locations based on a farming culture. The Piute existed as desert hunter/gathers living into small family groups with loose clan affiliations. The Ute, Navaho, and Apache peoples were also hunter/gathers, but were organized into stronger clan groups which enabled them to rally effective raiding bands against their neighbors and later pioneer settlements for slaves and livestock.

Exploration and Settlement

The Spanish explored Southern Utah during the 1700s and by the early 1800s had established a trail to California to carry on trade from New Mexico. Mountain Meadows and Gunlock were popular rest stops on the Old Spanish Trail. Fur trappers had made their way to the Southern Utah Mountains by the 1830s.

Mormon pioneers settled in the Salt Lake City area in the late 1840s and during the 1850s established many new settlements throughout Utah. By the mid 1850s scouts had explored and reported on the most likely places for settlement throughout Utah, western Colorado, Nevada, northern Arizona, northern New Mexico, southern Idaho, Wyoming, and southern California.

New Harmony had been established by 1852, Santa Clara and Gunlock in 1854, Pine Valley in 1856, Washington in 1857, and Virgin in 1858. In 1862, 309 Mormon families from northern Utah communities settled in St. George to establish the cotton mission. In the same year 30 Mormon families from Switzerland settled in Santa Clara to establish gardens, vineyards and cattle herds to supply the mission. The St. George Tabernacle was begun in 1863 and completed in 1876. The first Mormon temple in the west was completed in 1877 at St. George.

For more information check out  Utah's Dixie History