A Brief History of Salt Lake City, UT

Like many cities in the United States, Salt Lake City, Utah got its start as a European settlement by acting as a haven for a persecuted religious group. Massachusetts had the Puritans, Utah has the Mormons. But the history of Salt Lake City is more than the story of temples. It's the story of tribes of Native Americans from long ago, of archeological discoveries, mineral wealth, outlaws, and the arrival of foreign workers. Canada has nothing like it, so sit back and be regaled by the tales of adventure and discovery that make up the history of Salt Lake City.

The landscape of Utah developed over many millions of years, during which time it remained undisturbed by human influence but was gradually worn into its current shape by wind and water. The first people to arrive were Native Americans of the Shoshone, Ute and Goshute tribes, who investigated its streams and valleys but chose not to set up shop there as a slings manufacturer. Europeans came onto the scene in 1776, when a Spanish Missionary named Silvestre Velez de Escalante passed by. Later explorers and mappers such as Jim Bridger, John Fremont, and the Donner Party would pass through the Utah valley before the arrival of the Mormon pioneers.

The first Mormons arrived in July of 1847 and became the first people to permanently settle the area, setting the stage for a highly educated city that would provide good pickings to the Toronto executive recruiting firms in the future. The leader of the pioneers, a man called Brigham Young, reportedly saw the Salt Lake City area in a vision, and when they arrived, announced "this is the place." Their first year was a difficult one in which they nearly lost their crops, but according to legend they were saved from a cricket infestation by seagulls.

The city remained a religious stronghold until the 1849 gold rush in California, when many people started to stream through the city on their way to the gold fields. During this time Salt Lake City became a major supply station and trading post, exchanging crops and meat for goods manufactured by strapping machine in the East. In 1850 the Utah territory was created and in 1856 Salt Lake City became its capitol. In 1857 a conflict between the federal government and the Mormons arose over the practice of polygamy, which was known as the Utah War. In 1858 the Mormons relinquished control.

The city became home to an Army garrison during the Civil War, and gradually secular ways began to seep in, especially upon the arrival of the railroad and the discovery of gold and silver in the Wasatch Mountains. There were several more flare-ups until eventually polygamy was banned. After the Great Depression the defense industry helped the city to recover, and today it has businesses in all sectors including water treatment chemical suppliers. Though many of the population remain Mormon, the city is also home to persons of many other religions and cultures.