Emery County, Utah

Emery County in southeastern Utah is bordered on the north by Carbon County (which was created from Emery in 1894), on the west by the Wasatch Plateau and the original settlements in Sanpete and Sevier counties from which most Emery County settlers came, on the south by the remote artificial boundary with Wayne County, and on the east by the Green River--the natural boundary with Grand County (which was created from Emery County in 1890). Emery County includes three geographical areas: the mountains of the Wasatch Plateau; Castle Valley, where the major settlements are located; and the desert of the San Rafael Swell, the San Rafael Reef, Cedar Mountain, and the remote stretches of land west of the Green River. The San Rafael River, the lifeblood of the county, originates in the Wasatch Plateau where the headwaters are stored in several reservoirs for agricultural and industrial use. It flows into Castle Valley in three branches -- Huntington Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Ferron Creek -- which unite to form the San Rafael River after they pass the communities and adjacent farm land. It then twists its way through the rock and desert to its junction with the Green River.

 

Occupation of the San Rafael region dates back thousands of years to include people of the Archaic Period who were followed by those of the Fremont Culture who inhabited present-day Emery County from about A.D. 500 to 1300 Evidence of these people can still be found in numerous pictograph and petroglyph panels, such as those in Temple Mountain Wash, Muddy Creek, Ferron Box, Black Dragon Canyon, and Buckhorn Wash, all sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In historic times Ute Indians occupied sites in Castle Valley, and travelers along the Old Spanish Trail also passed through the present county.

In 1875 livestock growers from Sanpete County, recognizing the settlement potential of the region, brought cattle and sheep into Castle Valley to graze. With a shortage of sufficient land and water in Sanpete County and a strong desire by Mormon church leaders to acquire unoccupied land in the region before non-Mormons did, young families began moving into Castle Valley in the fall of 1877 to take up homesteads in what would become the settlements of Huntington, Ferron, Castle Dale, and Orangeville.

 

Although livestock and farming remained the mainstay of the county's economy throughout most of its history, two related events affected the region's economic stability: the completion of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad through Emery in 1883 and the development of the coal mines at Scofield, Castle Gate, and Sunnyside in Carbon County by 1895. The railroad provided the transportation for produce and livestock, while the mines provided a nearby market for animals and vegetables and an opportunity for some Emery residents to work in the mines during winter and farm during summer. The D&RGW also led to the establishment of the town of Green River, although the site had been an important part of the Old Spanish Trail and a mail station had been established there before completion of the railroad. During the 1970s Emery County's population grew significantly because of the construction by Utah Power and Light Company of large power plants in Castle Dale and Huntington and the opening of large coal mines to fuel the power plants.

 

*Source:  Beehive History 14: Utah Counties. 1988. Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1182.

 

 

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Emery County, Utah