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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Sevier County, Utah.
Official Website
History
Evidence of indigenous peoples residing in the Sevier County up to 5,000 BC has been unearthed. The Fremont culture of Native Americans occupied the area from about 2000 to 700 BC. The Clear Creek site contains native petroglyphs from that period.
In Utah, the Numic- (or Shoshonean) speaking peoples of the Uto-Aztecan language family evolved into four distinct groups in the historic period: the Northern Shoshone, Goshute or Western Shoshone, Southern Paiute, and Ute peoples. The central and eastern sections of this territory were occupied primarily by various bands of the Ute.
The first modern sighting of the Sevier River was most likely by the Catholic fathers Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez, on their expedition to California in 1776. The Old Spanish Trail was the route they mapped. Over the next century this trail carried fur trappers, hunters, government officials, traders, and settlers.
Settlement of this area began when Richfield was first settled. Mormon settlers arrived on June 15, 1864, most of whom had emigrated from Scandinavian countries. Because of the growth in this small community, the people soon petitioned Utah Territory officials about a separate county.
On January 16, 1865, the Utah Territory legislature created the county. It was named for the Sevier River. Much of Sevier County was abandoned in the Black Hawk War in 1867. Attempts to resettle the area were not successful until 1870. By 1874, 753 residents lived in the area.
Adjacent Counties
Cities, Towns & Communities
- Annabella
- Aurora
- Austin
- Burrville
- Central Valley
- Cove
- Elsinore
- Glenwood
- Gooseberry
- Joseph
- Koosharem
- Monroe
- Nibley
- Prattville
- Redmond
- Richfield (County Seat)
- Salina
- Sevier
- Sigurd
- Venice
- Vermillion
Links
Capitol Reef National Park (part)
Fishlake National Forest (part)
Manti-La Sal National Forest (part)