THE COUNTY MATURES,
1896-1929 I,
.n the years between Utah statehood (1896) and the beginning of the Great Depression (1929) the county's residents experienced, among other things, battles over water rights, population and civic growth, wars, agricultural prosperity and depression, and political conflict. The county would also experience further economic growth, the i n t r o d u c t i o n of new industries, the development of mineral resources, and the growth of the d o m i n a n t religion, the M o r m o n church. As the Great Depression approached, public exposure to poverty and unemployment mounted. G r o u n d was broken on Otter Creek, a tributary of the Sevier River in nearby Piute County, on 19 October 1897 for a major dam that would serve Sevier County water needs. By 1901 the dam was completed, with a height of forty-eight feet. This was a major development for the entire region, helping to harness the lifegiving water of the region. In 1907 another reservoir—the Piute Reservoir—was also begun in Piute County that would further help control the Sevier River and serve downstream users. Other small reservoirs such as the Rocky Ford Reservoir near Sigurd were built over the years on small 131
