A History of Beaver County, Utah Centennial County History Series
A HISTORY OF 'Beaver County Martha Sonntag Bradley UTAH CENTENNIAL COUNTY HISTORY SERIES A HISTORY OF 'Beaver County Martha Sonntag Bradley The settlement of Beaver County began in February 1856 when fifteen families from Parowan moved by wagon thirty miles north to Beaver Valley. The county was created by the Utah legislature on 31 January 1856, a week before the Parowan group set out to make their new home. However, centuries before, prehistoric peoples lived in the area, obtaining obsidian for arrow and spear points from the Mineral Mountains. Later, the area became home to Paiute Indians. Franciscan Friars Dominguez and Escalante passed through the area in October 1776. The Mormon settlement of Beaver devel oped at the foot of the Tushar Mountains. In 1859 the community of Minersville was es tablished, and residents farmed, raised live stock, and mined the lead deposits there. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century the Mineral Mountains and other locations in the county saw extensive mining develop ment, particularly in the towns of Frisco and Newhouse. Mining activities were given a boost with the completion of the Utah South ern Railroad to Milford in 1880. The birth place of both famous western outlaw Butch Cassidy and inventor of television Philo T. Farnsworth, Beaver County is rich in history, historic buildings, and mineral treasures. ISBN: 0-913738-17-4 A HISTORY OF 'Beaver County A HISTORY OF Beaver County Martha Sonntag Bradley 1999 Utah State Historical Society Beaver County Commission Copyright © 1999 by Beaver County Commission All rights reserved ISBN 0-913738-17-4 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 98-61325 Map by Automated Geographic Reference Center—State of Utah Printed in the United States of America Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-1182 Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii GENERAL INTRODUCTION ix CHAPTER 1 Beaver County: The Places That Shape Us .
[Show full text]