Utah History

Time for a brief Utah history lessen. If you where ever interested on how this state came to be then look no further then this page.

Indians

The history of Utah starts somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 BC, which was the earliest recorded evidence of human life in the state. The Paleo-Indian lived near the Great Basin Swamp during this time and hunted big game. Around 8000 BC the Archaic Indians appeared. They lived in caves and used nets to capture small gain.

The Anasazi Indians occupied southern Utah starting from around 1200 BC. They were known for being great craftsmen, jewelers, pottery makers as well as having well constructed pithouses.

Between 700 AD and 1250 AD the Fremont Indians appeared in Northwest Utah. They were known to use advanced technologies such as bows and arrows, pottery, and pithouses. The Fremont Indians probably traded with the Anasazi Indians, but they remained a separate culture.

Climate change hit the Fremont and Anasazi Indians hard and they were forced to move south to Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Northern Mexico.

Around 1200 AD another group of Indians called the Shoshonean speaking people migrated from southern California probably due to a population problem. Although there were 4 separate tribes the Ute Tribe, Shoshone Indians, Goshoutes, and Paiutes there is no evidence of any conflict between the individual tribes.

The Navajo Indians would later move to Utah from the great plains. After they arrived there would be constant warfare between them and the Shoshonean Indians.

Modern Utah History

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado discovered Utah in 1540 while looking for the legendary 7 cities of Gold. Utah would become a part of Spain and later Mexico. In the The Compromise of 1850 the US would eventually gain control of Utah although it would not become a state for another 46 years due to its low population.

The Discovery of precious metals lead to a wide migration and it would become the 45th State on January 4th 1896, with over 200,000 inhabitance.

Mormons

Mormons fled to Utah on July 24, 1847 to escape religious persecution at the time it was an uninhabited territory of Mexico. Today Mormons make up over 60% of the State’s population although that percentage has been decreasing.

Utah Today

Today Utah is known for the natural beauty of its State Parks such as Zion’s National Park and Bryce Canyon.

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