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Official Website
History
Indigenous peoples occupied the valleys of present Cache County. The valley served the Plains Indians and the Shoshone. Trappers and explorers visited the area in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. John Henry Weber and Jim Bridger came through in 1824; Peter Skene Ogden and James Beckwourth passed through in 1825. In July 1855 a group of Mormon settlers drove a herd of cattle into the valley and camped at Haw Bush Spring (present Elkhorn Ranch). However, the extremely cold winter conditions drove the settlers back to the Salt Lake Valley. That summer (1856) local leaders of the LDS Church sent Peter Maughan to establish a permanent settlement in the Cache Valley. His settlement, Maughan's Fort, grew into the present Wellsville.
More settlers arrived in the valley, and by 1859 the settlements of Providence, Mendon, Logan, Richmond, and Smithfield had been established.
In preparation for this influx, the Utah Territory legislature created a county, effective January 5, 1856, with seat and government incomplete. By April 4, 1857 the organization was completed, and Logan became the seat. It was named for the fur stashes, known in French as Caches, made by many of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company trappers. The county gained area in 1862 when its boundary lines with adjacent counties were adjusted. In 1863, the federal government enacted the Idaho Territory, which administratively removed the described portions of Cache County that lay north of the territorial border. Then in 1864, the east part of the county was partitioned to become Rich County. The borders of Cache County have remained in their present state since 1864.
A rail line between Brigham City and Logan was completed in 1873 (Utah and Northern Railway). The line was extended into Idaho, and a connection was made to the transcontinental railroad, which opened the world to Cache County; their crops (especially grain and dairy) began moving to broader markets. The county's sheep population also burgeoned; from 10,000 in 1880 to 300,000 by 1900. By 1900 the Forest Service began regulating grazing practices, which brought the sheep population under control.
There were 16,000 dairy cows in Cache County in 1910. Commercial creameries, flour mills, woolen mills, and knitting factories developed around the farm-based economy. Cache presently continues as the state's leader in dairy products and as a major producer of hay, alfalfa, and grain.
Adjacent Counties
- Oneida County, Idaho
- Franklin County, Idaho
- Bear Lake County, Idaho
- Rich County
- Weber County
- Box Elder County
Cities, Towns & Communities
- Amalga
- Avon
- Benson
- Cache (Junction)
- Clarkston
- College-Young (merge of both Wards)
- Cornish
- Cove
- Hyde Park
- Hyrum
- La Plata
- Lewiston
- Logan (County Seat)
- Mendon
- Millville
- Newton
- Nibley
- North Logan
- Paradise
- Petersboro
- Providence
- Richmond
- River Heights
- Trenton
- Smithfield
- Wellsville
- White Horse Village
Links
Cache National Forest (part)
Caribou National Forest (part)
National Register of Historic Places
Utah Genealogical Association - Cache Chapter
