CHAPTER 2
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
N,
a m e d for the a b u n d a n t beaver that inhabited the Beaver River when settlers first came into the area, Beaver County is located in southwestern Utah. The county seat, Beaver City, is located 210 miles south of Salt Lake City, 520 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, and halfway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Nevada, on U.S. Highway 91 and Interstate 15.A n u m b e r of short mountain ranges oriented for the most part on a north-south axis cross the county. The highest is the Tushar M o u n t a i n s in eastern Beaver County whose peaks are over 12,000 feet in height. The Beaver River originates in the Tushar Mountains and flows in a northwesterly direction into Millard County at the southern end of the Great Basin drainage area. Beaver Valley reaches an elevation of 5,970 feet, and Milford Valley 4,962 feet. Slightly more than three times longer than wide, Beaver County is rectangular in shape, with the exception of its irregular eastern boundary, formed by the ridgeline of the Tushar Mountains. The 94mile length of the county runs east-to-west, while its short 30-mile
