Salt Lake County, Utah Utah Territory after traveling what settlers later called Emigration Canyon. Brigham Young, their leader, declared "This is the place" after seeing the valley. Compared to eastern regions, it seemed arid and unpromising to some of the migrants. Settlers used extensive irrigation to develop agriculture and the flourishing, self-sufficient city, known then as Great Salt Lake City. Thousands of Mormons joined them in the next several decades. The county was officially organized on January 31, 1850, with slightly more than 11,000 residents recorded. Mormon settlements were scattered across the valley and beyond. They relocated the territorial capital to Great Salt Lake
Utah Lake trapper who visited Utah Lake in October 1824. The city of Provo and the Provo River are named after him. The Mormon settlement of Utah began in July 1847, when pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. Under the direction of Parley P. Pratt, an exploration of Utah Valley was conducted. The party brought a small boat in which they explored Utah Lake and caught fish with their nets. The first battle between settlers and Indians occurred in early March 1849. A company of forty men was sent into Utah Valley to stop the stealing of cattle from the Salt Lake