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
William Huntington (Mormon) as president of the LDS Church's Relief Society. His son Dimick B. Huntington was a major figure in relations between the Mormon settlers and the Native Americans in Utah Territory. William Huntington (Mormon) William Huntington (March 28, 1784 – August 19, 1846) was an early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), most prominently during the time the Mormon pioneers were moving from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City. Huntington was born in New Grantham, New Hampshire. In 1804, he and his parents moved to Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. In 1806, Huntington married Zina