Salt Lake City: History

Salt Lake City: History

European Explorers Replace Native Americans

For thousands of years, the inhabitants of the northern Utah region were hunter-gatherers. Artifacts dating as far back as 12,000 years have been found in caves near the Great Salt Lake. About 500 B.C. the Fremont tribe, a less nomadic, agricultural society, settled in the area, building impressive cliff dwellings and drawing elaborate rock paintings, many of which can still be viewed today. Changing environmental conditions eventually made primitive farming impossible, and by the twelfth century, the area was populated mainly by the Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone tribes of nomadic hunters.

The first Europeans to travel through the area were the Spanish, coming from New Mexico in search of a direct route to Monterey, California, in 1776. In the early 1800s, fur trappers and "mountain men" explored the region, discovering the Great Salt Lake and mapping the mountain passes. A number of government expeditions explored the area, and a steady stream of settlers bound for California began to pass through.

Mormons Settle, Lay Out Town; Religious Beliefs Questioned

A group of Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young settled in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, laying out a town they called Great Salt Lake City. From the beginning the city was well planned, with a grid of ten-acre plots separated by streets 132 feet wide. The industrious settlers began planting crops and developing intricate irrigation systems, eventually forming more than 500 settlements in the Utah area. Disaster was averted in 1848 when, as drought and plagues of insects threatened the crops, flocks of seagulls arrived to consume the insects, thereby saving the harvest.

In 1848 the settlers organized the State of Deseret and applied for statehood with a government headed by the Mormon Church. Congress denied the petition and instead created Utah Territory in 1850. Salt Lake City was incorporated in 1851, and in 1856 it replaced Fillmore as the territorial capital. Misunderstandings about Mormon religious beliefs and political outrage at the Mormon practice of polygamy led to the so-called "Utah War" in 1857 between the Mormon settlers and the U.S. Government. Although the dispute was settled peacefully in 1858, relations between the church and the territorial government were strained for many years.

City Becomes State Capital; Regional Mines, Industry Thrive

The two ends of the transcontinental railroad met just 40 miles north of Salt Lake City in 1869, tying Utah with the outside world. Over the next twenty years, hundreds of copper, silver, and lead mines were developed in the region, bringing a large number of non-Mormon settlers. Under continued pressure, the practice of polygamy was officially stopped by the church in 1890. This paved the way for women's suffrage in Utah, which had been a political lever in the national polygamy debate. The majestic Mormon Temple, begun in 1853, was completed in 1892, and Utah entered the Union in 1896 as the third suffrage state with Salt Lake City as the capital.

During the early twentieth century Salt Lake City assumed the look of a modern city. The State Capitol building and a number of other impressive structures were built, electric trolley cars began service on the city's streets, and large residential sections developed around the city. Like most cities, Salt Lake City suffered during the Great Depression, but prosperity returned during World War II amidst a construction boom and increased demand for metals. Industrial expansion continued postwar with downtown development and beautification projects becoming a focus in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 2002 Salt Lake City hosted the "best attended" Olympic Winter Games in history, with 1.6 billion tickets sold and another 4 billion television viewers. The city continues to reap the benefits of improved infrastructure and a significant increase in tourism.

In recent years Salt Lake City has been consistently recognized for its prosperity and quality of life. In 2003 Fortune magazine ranked the city third-best in America for business. Yahoo! magazine listed it among the nation's top 25 "Wired Cities"; and the sixth edition of Places Rated Almanac ranked the Salt Lake City/Ogden area as the best place to live in North America.

Historical Information: Utah State Historical Society Library, 300 South Rio Grande Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84101; telephone (801)533-3500; fax (801)533-3503