Garfield County History

                                                                       

Garfield County History

The ancient Pueblo and Fremont people lived in the Garfield County area.  They left behind pottery, tools, grinding stones, arrow points and other things.  At the Anasazi State Park, there is pottery that has been found that belonged to both cultures.  Then, the Numic people moved into the county once the Pueblo and Fremont cultures disappeared.  These Numic people are known as Southern Paiutes and Utes.

White settlers first came to the Panguitch area of Garfield County in March 1864.  They didn’t settle there very long because the winters were very hard and the Black Hawk War began the next year.  So they left.  Nobody tried to live in Panguitch again until 1871.  The county was created officially in 1882.  The town of Boulder was established in 1889.  The only way to get into town was over the Boulder Mountain, but during the winter the road was closed.  Boulder became the most isolated place in Utah until a road was established from Escalante to Boulder in the 1930’s.

MOUNTAIN RANGES IN GARFIELD COUNTY

                Bryce Canyon

    Bryce Canyon National park in Garfield County is named after the Mormon pioneer Ebeneezer Bryce. The limestone rock of Bryce Canyon was formed by erosion and rainwater. It's known for "hoodoos" which are odd-shaped spires of rocks formed by erosion.  The rocks are tinted with many different colors and a lot of different shapes. Bryce Canyon has almost 200 miles of visibility and there are views of three different states. This Canyon offers some excellent places for exploring and hiking.




                   Boulder Mountain

Boulder Mountain is a mountain range in Garfield County. It has cliffs and steep slopes.  There are over 50,000 acres of meadow lands and forest hills on the top of Boulder Mountain. Dixie National Forest contains Boulder Mountain.  It is also the tallest timbered plateau in the entire North American continent.