Sevier River from: Utah Place Names

SEVIER RIVER originates in Kane County near the summit of Long Valley at Long Valley Junction*. The river drains north through the Sevier River Bridge Reservoir, making a dramatic "U" turn south near Delta*, then flows into the seasonal Sevier Lake. The river is prominent in western and Utah history and it is the longest river located entirely within the state of Utah. The present name is a corruption of Rio Severo, the name used by the Spanish. It means severe and violent, which is an appropriate way to describe the river as it drains through difficult terrain. Domínguez and Escalante called it El Rio de Santa Isabel. The river, as did the lake, carried the name Nicollet for a short period of time. Jedediah Smith named it the Ashley River, in honor of his former employer. Several references give Brigadier General John Sevier of Kentucky credit for the name of the Sevier River, but this is incorrect. See also Sevier Lake. Bibliography: Dutton, C. E. Geology of the High Plateaus. United States Geographical Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1880. The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade. 10 vols. Glendale, CA: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1965-1972. _____ and Ann W. Hafen. Old Spanish Trail, Santa Fe to Los Angeles. Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1954. Jacobsen, Pearl F., comp. Golden Sheaves from Richfield, Utah. Richfield, UT: Richfield Centennial Committee, 1964. Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Publishing Co., 1941. Layton, Stanford J. "Fort Rawlins, Utah: A Question of Mission and Means." Utah Historical Quarterly 42 (Winter 1974): 68-83. Warner, Ted J., ed. Dominguez-Escalante Journal. Translated by Fray Angelico Chavez. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1976. Warnock, Irvin J. Our Own Sevier: A Comprehensive, Centennial Volume, Sevier County, Utah, 1865 -1965. [Richfield, UT]: Sevier County Commissioners, 1966. Through the Years: Sevier Centennial History. Springville, UT: Sevier County Centennial Committee, 1947. Young, Levi Edgar. The Founding of Utah. San Francisco: Charles Scribners Sons, 1923.

EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS... 1. An asterisk (*) following a place name indicates past or present inhabitation. 2. When a series of letters and numbers are present towards the end of an entry after the ">" symbol, the first group indicates section/township/range as closely as can be pinpointed (i.e., S12,T3S,R4W,SLM, or USM). A section equals approximately one square mile, reflecting U.S. Geological Survey topographic map sections. Because Utah is not completely mapped, some entries are incomplete. In this case, whatever information is available will be provided. The second group, when present, is altitude in feet followed by meters in parentheses [i.e., 6,000' (1,829m)]. Altitude is not included with canyons or deserts with varying altitudes.

______SOURCE... Utah Place Names. Salt Lake City, Utah : University of Utah. University of Utah Press, 1990.

AUTHOR... Van Cott, John W.

USE RESTRICTIONS... The contents of this article may be repurposed for non-commercial, non-profit, educational use.

______Distributed by the Utah Education Network eMedia service: http://www.uen.org/emedia Original digital conversion by UCME: Utah Collections Multimedia Encyclopedia project: http://www.uen.org/ucme File ID = t_004776 A softbound copy of the original book may be purchased online from the University of Utah Press at: http://www.uofupress.com

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