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
Salt Lake City Council Hall both as a general courtroom and the legislative floor. The Assembly Hall was often the site of tension between Mormons, non-Mormons, and federal troops, but possibly the most dramatic event occurred in August 1874; Mayor Daniel H. Wells declared martial law from the balcony of City Hall. This was in response to US Marshal arrests of several Salt Lake City police officers in concert with taking over the polls for election of a Utah representative to congress. After 1894 the city used the Hall as police headquarters until 1915. Following this the building was used in minor capacities by the