A History of Utah County

Utah County, with an area of about 2,140 square miles, is a place of migration. People have crossed, stayed, gave birth, lived, and died there over thousands ofyears. The county is also a land of contrasts—of mountains and canyons, dry and well-watered valleys, lakes and streams. The historic peoples of the land, the Native Americans and the Mormon pioneers, viewed the region as a treasure house of nature's bounty. The surrounding mountain walls did not protect either group from the political, economic, and social forces beyond the boundaries of the county during the nineteenth century, however. Yet, over time, both groups adapted and changed as a new century took the county into the modern age.\nPolitical, economic, and cultural shifts in the small towns and larger cities in the county have reflected much of the national trends and moods at various periods. While still retaining some unique traits, the county today is in many ways integrated into the larger post-modern world, as waves of migration have flooded across the land in the twentieth century. The dramatic growth of the county (the second most populous in the state) in the last decades of the century highlights the tension between preserving the past, living in the present, and preparing for the future.