CHAPTER 6
SETTLEMENTS ON THE UPPER SEVIER RIVER
W,
ithin a year after the second settlement of Panguitch southern Utah pioneers began to establish additional townsites in close proximity to the u p p e r Sevier River. In some cases their efforts proved to be tentative and misguided, as they chose locations incapable of sustaining economic prosperity or even a reasonably comfortable existence. High elevations and their associated short growing seasons and extremely cold winters combined to discourage many newcomers. But those who stayed found ways to adapt their livelihoods to the harsh conditions. Perhaps they felt compensated for their struggles as they daily viewed the s u r r o u n d i n g beauty and enjoyed its peaceful influence. Of these early settlements, only two have endured as towns to the present, b u t the other villages contributed to the overall settlement of the area.
Hillsdale In an effort to find an ideal location for a sawmill, two millwrights, George Deliverance Wilson and his brother-in-law Joel Hills Johnson, brought their families and other settlers to the east bank of 108
