Timeline for Southern Utah and surrounding area
500 to 1500 AD Thousands of years ago, the Anasazi and Freemonth Indians made
their homes among the lands of southern Utah hills and rivers.
1776 Fathers Domingues and Escalante explored ash creek to the Rio
Virgin.
1826 Jedediah S. Smith came down Ash Creek to the Rio Virgin and
then down the Virgin
Through the gorge on the way to California.
1827 Jedediah Smith came down Ash Creek to the Virgin River to
Corn Creek (Santa
Clara), up to where Santa Clara (City) is today, up the mountain on what became
known as
Utah Hill, down to Beaver Dam then on to California
1849 Parley P. Pratt was sent by Brigham Young to explore the
Virgin Basin. They left Salt
Lake City in December 1849 when the weather was extremely cold. They had six
days where the temperature went below zero. They came down Ash Creek to the
Virgin and then down to the Santa Clara, up to the Santa Clara and back to
Parowan
where they met part of the group who returned by way of Ash Creek. They reported
that there was land and water to grow crops.
1851 San Bernadino (City)was settled by Mormon missionaries.
1851 January 13, 1851 Parowan (City) was settled.
1851 November 2, 1851 Cedar City was settled.
1852 December 1852 Harmony (Kelsey's Ranch) was settled by John D. Lee and
Elisha
H. Groves.
1852 John D. Lee and eleven men came down Ash Creek to the Virgin, then to the
Santa
Clara over to Utah Hill, to Beaver Dam back the gorge and back to Harmony. They
reported to Brigham Young in glowing terms the good qualities of this land. It
would
grow cotton!
1853 Fort Harmony was built.
1854 Jacob Hamblin and a few missionaries settled Santa Clara (City).
1855 Families came to Santa Clara to settle. Fort Clara was built.
1855 The first cotton was grown at Santa Clara. Jacob Hamblin was ill and A. P.
Hardy
was sent to Harmony to get some medicine. Arranging for the medicine he traveled
to Parowan and while there, Nancy Anderson gave him a quart of cotton seed She
was a southerner. This seed was planted and a crop of cotton was harvested, the
first in southern Utah.
1855 On April 6 missionaries were called to settle Las Vegas( Nevada). Collville
on the Colorado River was
prepared for boats to dock.
1856 The cotton seed produced the year before in Santa Clara was planted and a
new
crop was harvested. Thirty yards of cloth was woven from this cotton. A hand
cranked
cotton gin was made.
1856 Las Vegas lead mission was started.
1856 Pinto (Utah) was established.
1856 Tonaquint was started. Rufus C. Allen and Hyrum Burgess built three cabins
there. It
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26 Dec 2012