SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF SEVIER COUNTY,
I
1865-1896
n 1850 the Utah Territorial Legislature created six counties: Great Salt Lake, Weber, Tuilla, Utah, San Pete (later Sanpete), and Little Salt Lake.1 Each of these entities was formed around pockets of white settlement. County borders and names changed over time until 1917 when the creation of Daggett C o u n t y gave Utah its present twenty-nine counties. O n 16 January 1865 the territorial legislature created Sevier County out of the southern portion of Sanpete County. The boundaries of the county were outlined as follows: That all that portion of Sanpete county lying south of an east and west line passing through the ford of Willow Creek between Gunnison and Salina, and east of the main range of mountains dividing Round and Pauvan valleys from the valley of the Sevier is hereby created and named Sevier county, with county seat at Richfield.2 The county's northern, western, and southern boundaries were essentially the same as they are today. However, the county's eastern 98
