David Rich Lewis Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Long before Euro-Americans entered the Great Basin, substantial numbers of people lived within the present boundaries of Utah. Archaeological reconstructions suggest human habitation stretching back some 12,000 years. The earliest known inhabitants were members of what has been termed the Desert Archaic Culture—nomadic hunter-gatherers with developed basketry, flaked-stem stone tools, and implements of …
Native American and European Relations
Thomas G. Alexander Utah, The Right Place As the Saints colonized and implanted the region with Euro-American social and cultural traditions, they also clashed with the region’s previous residents. The Mormons had not moved to a desert island, and even on their first beachheads in Salt Lake, Davis, and Weber Counties, they ran into Numics who resented their invasion. In …
The Founding and Naming of Moab
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, September 1995 The now-prosperous town of Moab had a rocky beginning. Its would-be founders faced hostile Ute Indians who prevented white settlement for over twenty years. Even the name Moab has had to survive a serious challenge. The first white settlers of this region just east of the Colorado River in what is now Grand …
Fort Duchesne
David L. Schirer Utah History Encyclopedia Fort Duchesne was established by Major Frederick William Benteen on 20 August 1886, on a site selected by General George Crook, and General Crook soon took command of the new fort. Construction began in October 1886 and the reservation was officially designated by President Cleveland in September 1887. The fort continued to serve, with …