Native Americans have lived in Utah for several thousand years; most
archeological evidence dates such habitation about 10,000 to 12,000
years ago. Some left petroglyphs and pictographs which exist throughout
the state.
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern
Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cíbola.
A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the
Dominguez-Escalante Expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a
route to the California coast. The expedition travelled as far north as
Utah Lake and encountered the native residents.
Fur trappers—including Jim Bridger—explored some regions of Utah in the
early 1800s. The city of Provo, Utah was named for one such man, Étienne
Provost, who visited the area in 1825.
Mormon settlers first came to the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. At
the time, Utah was still Mexican territory. As a consequence of the
Mexican-American War, the land became the territory of the United States
upon the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848.
In 1850 the Utah Territory was created with the Compromise of 1850, and
Fillmore was designated the capital. In 1856, Salt Lake City replaced
Fillmore as the territorial capital.
Disputes between the Mormon inhabitants, who had settled in the area in
1847 and were pushing for the establishment of the State of Deseret, and
the US Government, intensified after Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints publicly admitted to the practice of polygamy among
their members. The U.S. Government, which was reluctant to admit a state
the size of the proposed Deseret into the union, opposed the polygamous
practices of the Mormons.
Salt Lake City was the last link of the transcontinental telegraph,
completed in October of 1861. Brigham Young was among the first to send
a message, along with Abraham Lincoln and other officials.
Due to the Civil War, federal troops were pulled out of Utah Territory,
leaving the territory in LDS hands until Patrick E. Connor arrived with
a regiment of California volunteers in 1862. Connor established Fort
Douglas just three miles east of Salt Lake City, and encouraged his men
to discover mineral deposits to bring more non-Mormons into the state.
Minerals were discovered in Tooele County, and miners began to flock to
the territory.
Beginning in 1865, Utah's Black Hawk War developed into the deadliest
conflict in the territory's history. The war is unique among Indian Wars
because it was a three way conflict, with mounted Utes led by Antonga
Black Hawk exploiting the mutual distrust between federal and LDS
authorities.
On May 10, 1869, the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed at
Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake. The railroad brought
increasing numbers of non-Mormons into the state.
During the 1870s and 1880s a number of laws were set to punish
polygamists, and in the 1890 Manifesto the LDS Church finally agreed to
ban polygamy. When Utah applied for statehood again, it was accepted.
One of the conditions to granting Utah's statehood was that a ban on
polygamy be written into the Utah Constitution. This was a condition
required of other western states that were also admitted later into the
Union. Statehood of Utah was officially granted on January 4, 1896.
Beginning in the early 1900s, with the establishment of such national
parks as Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, Utah began
to become known for its natural beauty. Beginning in 1939, with the
establishment of Alta Ski Area, Utah has become world-renowned for its
skiing. The dry, powdery snow of the Wasatch Range is considered some of
the best skiing in the world.
