UTAH
, a territory of the United States, situated
between lat. 37° and 42° N., and lon. 109°
and 114° W.; general length N. and S., about
350 m.; general breadth, about 260 m.; area,
84,476 sq. m. It is bounded N. by Idaho and
Wyoming, E. by Wyoming and Colorado, S.
by Arizona, and W. by Nevada. It is divided
into 20 counties, viz.: Beaver, Box Elder,
Cache, Davis, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard,
Morgan, Piute, Rich, Salt Lake, San Pete, Sevier,
Summit, Tooele, Utah, Wahsatch, Washington,
Weber. Salt Lake City (pop. in 1870, 12,854)
is the capital and largest city. The principal
other places are Ogden (pop. 3,127), Provo
(2,384), Morgan City (1,972), Logan (1,757),
Spanish Fork (1,450), Mount Pleasant (1,346),
Brigham City (1,315), Nephi City (1,286), Manti
(1,239), Beaver City (1,207), Ephraim City
(1,167), and Tooele City, Fillmore, Corinne
City, Heber City, and Willard City, with more
than 500 inhabitants each. The population of
the territory, according to the United States
censuses, has been as follows: in 1850, 11,380,
including 24 free colored persons and 26 slaves;
in 1860, 40,273, including 30 free colored
persons, 29 slaves, and 89 Indians; in 1870,
86,786, including 118 colored persons, 445
Chinese; and 179 Indians. The tribal Indians (not
enumerated in the census) numbered 1,040 in
1875, including 650 Uintah Utes on a reservation
of 2,039,040 acres in the N. E. corner
of the territory, together with 134 Pah Vants
and 256 Goship Utes not under an agent. Of
the total population in 1870, 56,084 were
natives of the United States and 30,702 foreign
born, 44,121 males and 42,665 females. Of
the natives, 41,426 were born in the territory,
2,247 in New York, 2,105 in Illinois,
1,492 in Iowa, 1,315 in Pennsylvania, 1,133
in Ohio, and 908 in Missouri; and there were
persons living in the territory born in every
other state and nearly every territory. Of the
foreigners, 20,772 were natives of the British
isles, including 16,073 English, 502 Irish,
2,391 Scotch, and 1,783 Welsh; 4,957 of
Denmark, 1,790 of Sweden, 687 of British America,
613 of Norway, and 509 of Switzerland.
There were 15,344 males and 15,072 females
between 5 and 18 years of age, 14,603 males
between 18 and 45, and 18,042 males 21 and
upward, of whom 10,147 were citizens of the
United States and 7,895 unnaturalized
foreigners. The number of families was 17,210,
with an average of 5.04 persons to each; of
dwellings, 18,290, with an average of 4.75 to
each. Of persons 10 years old and upward,
2,515 could not read and 7,363 could not write,
of whom 3,334 were natives and 4,029
foreigners. There were 29 blind persons, 18 deaf
and dumb, 25 insane, and 23 idiotic. Of the
21,517 persons 10 years old and upward
returned as engaged in all occupations, 10,428
were employed in agriculture, 5,317 in professional
and personal services, 1,665 in trade and
transportation, and 4,107 in manufactures and
mining.?Utah is divided into two parts by
the Wahsatch mountains, which cross it from
N. E. to S. W. The W. part belongs to the
Great Basin, its waters having no outlet to
the ocean, while the E. part is drained by the
Colorado river of the West. The surface is
elevated; the valleys lie from 4,000 to 6,000
ft. above the sea, and the mountains attain
an altitude of from 6,000 to upward of 13,000
ft., the highest peaks rising above the line of
perpetual snow. The region E. of the
Wahsatch range has a greater number of streams
(which, however, nearly all flow through deep
and precipitous canons and are not generally
available for irrigation) and is more rugged
and mountainous than that W. of it. The Uintah
mountains extend E. from the Wahsatch
range along the S. border of Wyoming. The
Roan or Book mountains lie partly in Utah
and partly in Colorado, between the Grand
and White rivers. The Little mountains are
W. of Green river, and extend N. W. and S.
E. between White and Uintah rivers, joining
the Wahsatch range. The Sierra Lasal is S.
E. of Grand river near the E. boundary, and
S. of it are the Sierra Abajo and Orejas del
Oso. Tho San Juan range and Sierra Panoche
are near the S. boundary, the former W. and
the latter E. of the Colorado river. The S.
E. portion of the territory is less mountainous
than the N. E., consisting of extensive
undulating plateaus. W. of the Wahsatch range
the country consists of a series of disconnected
valleys, generally having a N. and S. direction,
formed by ridges and mountain ranges, among
which are the Thomas, Iron, Guyot, Goshoot,
Pijarajabi, Oquirrh, and Raft River mountains.?The
Colorado river is formed in Piute co. by
the junction of the Grand and Green, and flows
S. W. into Arizona. Its chief tributary from
the east is the San Juan, and from the west
the Dirty Devil. Green river enters the
territory at the N. E. corner from Wyoming, and
has a general S. course to its junction with the
Grand. Its chief tributaries are the White
river from the east, and Brush creek, Ashley's
fork, Uintah, White, and San Rafael rivers
from the west. Grand river enters from
Colorado near the centre of the E. boundary, and
flows S. W. to the Green. The S. W. corner
of the territory is watered by the Rio Virgin,
which flows S. W. and joins the Colorado in
Nevada. W. of the Wahsatch mountains are
several lakes, of which those with no outlet
are impregnated with alkaline substances. The
largest of these is Great Salt lake in the N. W.
part of the territory. (See
Great Salt Lake
.)
S. of this lake, into which it flows through
the river Jordan, 45 m. long, is Utah lake, a
sheet of pure fresh water abounding in fish.
It is triangular, has an area of about 130 sq.
m., and is closely bordered with mountains.
Its chief tributaries are Salt creek from the
south, Spanish fork from the southeast, and
the Provo or Timpanagos river from the northeast.
The principal tributaries of Great Salt
lake, besides the Jordan, are the Ogden and
Weber rivers on the east, and Bear river,
which empties into Bear River bay in the
northeast. Bear river rises at the junction of the
Wahsatch and Uintah mountains near the S.
W. corner of Wyoming, flows N. into Idaho,
then bends N. W. and S., and reentering Utah
maintains a S. course to its mouth. Bear lake,
partly in Idaho and partly in Utah, is
connected with it. Sevier river has its sources in
the S. part of the territory, flows N. for about
150 m., receiving several tributaries from the
east, the most important of which is tho San
Pete, then bends S. W. and flows about 50
m. further into Sevier lake. The latter is 25
by 10 m. in greatest extent, about 100 m. S.
S. W. of Great Salt lake. Beaver lake, S.
E. of Sevier lake, receives the waters of Beaver
river. Among other small lakes in this
region are Little Salt lake and Fish lake; the
latter contains fresh water, and is connected
with Sevior river.?The principal geological
formations are the cretaceous, triassic and
Jurassic, tertiary, eozoic, alluvial, and
Cambrian and Silurian. Tho cretaceous and triassic
prevail in the southeast; the Wahsatch
and Uintah mountains are cretaceous, triassic,
and Cambrian; the extensive desert W. and
S. W. of Great Salt lake is alluvial; while the
rest of the territory is mostly tertiary. In the
San Pete valley, 90 m. S. of Salt Lake City, are
extensive deposits of coal. This is a lignite of
superior quality and probably of cretaceous age.
The coke from it, though inferior to that of the
Pittsburgh coals, can be used in lead-smelting
furnaces. Valuable deposits of the
precious metals occur in the two mountain ranges
between which the Jordan flows, the
Wahsatch on the east and the Oquirrh on the west.
These ranges are traversed by canons, usually
narrow and precipitous, opening into the Jordan
valley, and affording access to the mining
districts. The Utah Southern railroad, with
several narrow-gauge branches, furnishes
transportation to the smelting works in the valley
and to Salt Lake City and Ogden. Lead ores,
carrying silver, were discovered by Mormons
in Beaver county in 1858, and large quantities
of lead were produced, but the presence of
silver was not then known. In 1863 silver-lead
ores were discovered in Bingham canon
(Oquirrh range) by a party of the California
volunteers. The early attempts to work these
deposits were unprofitable, in the absence of
skilled metallurgists and of railroad transportation.
Gulch mining for gold in Bingham canon
began in 1868, and was continued with favorable
results, in a limited field, for several years.
The development in 1869 of the famous Emma
deposit, in Little Cottonwood canon (Wahsatch
range), was the beginning of much excited
activity in mining, in which even the Mormons,
whose leaders had discouraged this industry,
gradually took part. The large influx of miners
from other territories, the construction of
railroads, and the erection of more than 30 smelting
and refining works, have widely developed
the mining industry and brought about
great political and social changes in the territory.
The Emma mine, sold to an English
company for £1,000,000, is said to have
disappointed both the owners and the purchasers,
and to be an irregular deposit in limestone,
the available portions of which have been
exhausted. The principal mining districts are as
follows: Parley's Park, Big Cottonwood, Little
Cottonwood, and American Fork, in the
Wahsatch range; West Mountain or Bingham,
Dry Canon, Ophir, and Camp Floyd, in the
Oquirrh range; Tintic and West Tintic, in the
Tintic mountains; and South Star, North Star,
San Francisco, and Lincoln, in the S. W. part
of the territory. The ores are chiefly argentiferous
carbonate of lead and galena, with some
copper ore in the southern districts, and in a
few localities ores sufficiently free from lead
and other base metals to be successfully
reduced by the Washoe process of stamping and
pan amalgamation. The value of gold, silver,
and lead produced in Utah since 1868, according
to R. W. Raymond, United States commissioner
of mining statistics, has been as follows:
|
YEARS.
|
Gold.
|
Silver.
|
Lead.
|
Aggregate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
1868-'9
|
$600,000
|
..........
|
........
|
$600,000
|
1870
|
300,000
|
$1,000,000
|
........
|
1,300,000
|
1871
|
221,000
|
2,079,000
|
$500,000
|
2,800,000
|
1872
|
100,008
|
2,345,279
|
675,477
|
3,120,764
|
1873
|
52,426
|
3,725,775
|
958,365
|
4,736,566
|
1874
|
92,093
|
3,819,508
|
1,430,044
|
5,341,645
|
1875
|
181,765
|
2,955,923
|
1,080,459
|
4,218,147
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
$1,547,292
|
$15,925,485
|
$4,644,345
|
$22,117,122
|
|
In 1875 there were also produced $102,148
worth of copper, $26,878 worth of iron, and
$400,000 worth (50,000 tons) of coal. In the
N. part of the territory, in the vicinity of Ogden
and Brigham City, are numerous hot springs.?In
the valleys the climate is generally mild
and healthful, with little snow; the days are
often hot in summer, but the nights are always
cool; spring opens in April, and cold weather
rarely sets in till December. On the
mountains the winters are severe and the snowfall is
more abundant, furnishing an unfailing supply
of water for the streams in summer. There is
considerable rain in the valleys from October
to April, the weather during the rest of the
year being dry, and rendering irrigation necessary
to agriculture. The weather in spring
and autumn is changeable. The annual
precipitation of rain and melted snow varies from
about 8 inches in the southwest to about 20
inches in the northeast. At Corinne on the
Central Pacific railroad, N. E. of Great Salt
lake, the mean temperature of the 12 months
ending Sept. 30, 1872, was 49.2°; of the
hottest month (July), 75°; of the coldest month
(January), 26.6°; total rainfall, 17.13 inches.
The mean temperature of the following 12
months was 48.18; of the hottest month
(July), 76.2°; of the coldest month (February),
24.3°; rainfall, 15.62 inches. The mean
temperature of the year 1870 at Camp Douglas,
near Salt Lake City, was 51.51°; of the hottest
month (July), 76.45°; of the coldest month
(December), 27.03°; maximum observed, 96°;
minimum observed, 3°; rainfall, 15.1 inches.
The valley of the Rio Virgin in the southwest
is much warmer. The climate is generally
healthful. The number of deaths reported by
the census of 1870 is 891, of which 99 were
from cholera infantum, 84 from pneumonia,
78 from fevers, 63 from consumption, 56 from
measles, 52 from enteritis, and 46 from
diarrhœa.?Much of the soil of Utah possesses the
elements of fertility, and when irrigated
produces good crops. In narrow belts around the
lakes and springs and along the streams the
moisture is sometimes sufficient without
irrigation; but the plains in their natural state
are for the most part hard, dry, and barren,
frequently covered with a saline incrustation,
and producing only sage brush and occasional
tufts of sand grass and buffalo or gama grass.
The mountain slopes in many parts are well
covered with buffalo grass. The higher
portions of the Wahsatch and Uintah mountains
have a good growth of pine and fir, with some
quaking ash, cedar, spruce, &c.; and there are
considerable quantities of pine on the Oquirrh
mountains, W. of Salt Lake City, on the range
E. of Utah lake, and on the promontory in
the N. E. part of Great Salt lake. Elsewhere
there are no important forests, though
occasional copses of willow, box elder, cottonwood,
and dwarf ash occur along the streams. The
principal settlements are along the W. base
of the Wahsatch mountains and in the valley
of the Rio Virgin, where by the construction
of canals an extensive system of irrigation has
been put in operation. The chief agricultural
localities are the Malade valley; Cache valley,
watered by Bear river; the Weber valley; Salt
Lake valley, as the tract along the S. E. shore
of Great Salt lake is called; the Jordan valley;
Tooele valley, W. of the Jordan; the basin of
Utah lake, especially on the east; Rush valley,
W. of Utah lake; the San Pete valley; the
Sevier valley; and the Rio Virgin valley. The
region E. of the Wahsatch mountains is little
known, but in the valleys of the Uintah and
some other tributaries of the Colorado there
is considerable irrigable land. The principal
agricultural productions are wheat, oats,
barley, potatoes, and other root crops. The nights
are generally too cool for Indian corn, except
in Salt Lake valley and the valley of the Rio
Virgin. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, and
grapes grow well. Large quantities of fruits,
vegetables, and berries are dried or canned
for shipment to Wyoming, Montana, Idaho,
and Nevada. Cotton, figs, pomegranates, and
other tropical fruits are grown in the Rio Virgin
valley. The crops have frequently
suffered from the devastations of locusts
(“grasshoppers”). Utah presents fewer obstacles to
grazing than to agriculture, large tracts
impracticable to the farmer being well suited to
the stock raiser. The buffalo and sand grass,
and the wild sage when touched by frost,
furnish nutritious food for cattle. Cache valley
is one of the finest grazing districts, and in the
valley of Green river there is an extensive
region possessing superior advantages for sheep
raising. The herdsmen drive their stock high
up on the mountain slopes in summer, reserving
the valleys for winter. Numerous herds
are pastured on the mountain ranges E. of the
Wahsatch in summer, and on the approach of
winter are driven across that range into Salt
Lake valley, where little shelter or prepared
food is required.?According to the census of
1870, the number of acres of land in farms was
148,361, of which 118,755 were improved;
number of farms, 4,908, of which 803 contained
less than 10 acres each, 1,660 from 10 to 20,
2,019 from 20 to 50, 316 from 50 to 100, 107
from 100 to 500, and 3 more than 500; cash
value of farms, $2,297,922; of farming
implements and machinery, $291,390; wages paid
during the year, including value of board, $133,695;
estimated value of all farm productions,
including betterments and additions to stock,
$1,973,142; value of orchard produce, $43,938;
of produce of market gardens, $8,700; of forest
products, $800; of home manufactures, $56,891;
of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter,
$172,382; of all live stock, $2,149,814.
The productions were 543,487 bushels of spring
wheat, 14,986 of winter wheat, 1,312 of rye,
95,557 of Indian corn, 65,650 of oats, 49,117
of barley, 178 of buckwheat, 9,291 of peas and
beans, 323,645 of Irish potatoes, 163 of sweet
potatoes, 5 of grass seed, 22 bales of cotton,
109,018 lbs. of wool, 310,335 of butter, 69,603
of cheese, 322 of hops, 10 of flax, 13 of wax,
575 of honey, 3,131 gallons of wine, 67,446 of
sorghum molasses, and 27,305 tons of hay. The
live stock on farms consisted of 11,068 horses,
2,879 mules and asses, 17,563 milch cows, 3,479
working oxen, 18,138 other cattle, 59,672 sheep,
and 3,150 swine; besides which there were
3,213 horses and 151,754 cattle not on farms.
The number of manufacturing establishments
was 533, having 21 steam engines of 331 horse
power, and 192 water wheels of 2,169 horse
power; number of hands employed, 1,534;
amount of capital invested, $1,391,898; wages
paid during the year, $395,365; value of ma-
terials used, $1,238,252; annual value of prod-
ucts, $2,343,019. The principal establishments
were 74 flouring and grist mills, value of products
$782,846; 95 saw mills, $661,431; and 6
woollen factories, $133,620. The number of
acres of land under cultivation in 1875 was
reported at 347,750; bushels of wheat raised,
2,775,000; barley, 397,500; oats, 589,000;
Indian corn, 300,000; potatoes, 1,807,000; tons
of hay, 175,000; pounds of wool, 1,000,000;
value of all agricultural products, $8,236,022;
of manufactures, $2,803,985, nearly half flour.
The value of imports into the territory, chiefly
merchandise and manufactured articles, was
$9,150,851; of exports therefrom, mineral and
agricultural products, $6,435,858.?Utah
communicates on the one hand with California and
on the other with the east by the Central and
Union Pacific railroads, which meet at Ogden
in the north. From this point the Utah
Central railroad extends to Salt Lake City, whence
the Utah Southern runs S. to York and the
Utah Western W. to Lake Point. The Utah
Northern railroad extends from Ogden to
Franklin, Idaho; the American Fork railroad,
from American Fork on the Utah Southern E.
to Deer Creek; the Bingham Canon railroad,
from Sandy on the Utah Southern to Bingham
Canon; the Wahsatch and Jordan Valley
railroad, from Sandy to Fairfield; and the Summit
County railroad, from Echo on the Union
Pacific to Coalville. The following table gives
the mileage of railroad in the territory in 1876:
|
LINES.
|
Miles in
operation.
|
|
|
American Fork
|
16
|
Bingham Canon
|
20
|
Central and Union Pacific
|
226
|
Summit County
|
8
|
Utah Central
|
37
|
Utah Northern
|
80
|
Utah Southern
|
78
|
Utah Western
|
25
|
Wahsatch and Jordan Valley
|
10
|
|
|
Total
|
500
|
|
There are two national banks, with a joint
capital of $300,000.?The chief executive officers
are a governor and secretary, appointed
by the president with the consent of the senate
for four years, and an auditor, treasurer, and
superintendent of common schools, elected by
the territorial legislature for two years. The
legislature consists of a council of 13 and a
house of representatives of 26 members, elected
by the people by districts for two years,
and has biennial sessions. The judicial power
is vested in a supreme court, consisting of
a chief justice and two associates; a district
court in each of the three districts into which
the territory is divided, held by a justice of
the supreme court; and a probate court in
each organized county. The justices of the
supreme court are appointed by the president
for four years; the probate judges are elected
for two years. The supreme court has only
appellate powers; the district courts are the
tribunals of general original jurisdiction. While
the government is thus similar to that of the
other territories, the influence of the Mormon
church is really paramount. By a territorial
act of 1870 the right of suffrage was extended
to women. The valuation of property,
according to the United States census, has been:
|
YEARS.
|
ASSESSED VALUE.
|
True value
of real and
personal
estate.
|
|
Real
estate.
|
Personal
estate.
|
Total.
|
|
|
|
|
|
1850
|
........
|
.........
|
.........
|
$986,083
|
1860
|
$286,504
|
$3,871,516
|
$4,158,020
|
5,596,118
|
1870
|
7,047,881
|
5,517,961
|
12,565,842
|
16,159,995
|
|
The taxation in 1870 was $167,355, of which
$39,402 was territorial, $80,419 county, and
$47,534 town, city, &c. The assessed value of
property in 1875 was $23,289,180, and the territorial
tax $58,222 95. The amount in the
territorial treasury on Jan. 1, 1874, was $35,655 47;
receipts during the following two years,
$104,539 23; total, $140,194 70; disbursements
during the same period, $139,662 46; balance,
Jan. 1, 1876, $532 24.?The common schools
are under the management of the territorial
superintendent, county superintendents, and
district trustees. A superintendent is elected
in each county by the qualified voters for two
years, and in each school district three trustees
are elected for the same period by the resident
taxpayers. Some money is raised by taxation,
but the expenses of the schools are mainly
defrayed by tuition fees. The following statistics
are for 1875: number of districts, 236;
number reporting, 163; schools, 296; children
of school age (4 to 16), 35,696; pupils enrolled
iu public schools, 19,278; in private schools,
3,542; average attendance, public 13,462,
private 2,437; amount paid public teachers,
$95,533; paid for building purposes, $49,569;
appropriated by territory, $15,000; raised by
local taxation, $20,267; tuition fees, $95,533;
value of public school property, $438,665. The
university of Deseret, at Salt Lake City, was
organized in 1869; it has medical, collegiate,
normal, and inferior departments. It receives
an annual appropriation from the territorial
treasury of from $5,000 to $10,000. There
are several good schools at Salt Lake City and
one or two other points, maintained by
various religious denominations. According to
the census of 1870, there were 10 newspapers,
issuing 1,578,400 copies annually, and having
a circulation of 14,250. Of these 3 were daily,
3 semi-weekly, 3 weekly, and 1 monthly. The
number of libraries was 133, with an aggregate
of 39,177 volumes, of which 59, with
7,684 volumes, were private. There were 165
church organizations, with 164 edifices, 86,110
sittings, and property to the value of $674,600.
Of the organizations only 5 were non-Mormon
(2 Episcopal, 2 Methodist, and 1 Presbyterian).?Utah
forms part of the territory acquired
from Mexico in 1848. It was settled in 1847
by Mormons under the lead of Brigham Young.
In March, 1849, a provisional government for
the “state of Deseret” was organized, which
was superseded by the territory of Utah,
organized under the act of congress of Sept. 9,
1850, comprising 220,196 sq. m., and embracing
portions of what is now Colorado,
Wyoming, and Nevada. In 1856, under an act of
the territorial legislature, a constitution was
framed for the “state of Deseret,” and
application has since been repeatedly made to
congress for its admission into the Union, without
success. (See
Mormons
.)