CHAPTER
3
SETTLEMENTS IN UTAH COUNTY, 1849-1890 J. he natural course of the land dictated settlement for the pioneers in what some geographers call the Wasatch Oasis, a series of narrow crescents of arable land rimming the western flanks of the Wasatch Mountains from present-day Brigham City southward to Nephi. 1 Salt Lake City, located in the northeastern part of the Salt Lake Valley, was the first permanent M o r m o n settlement settled in 1847. In December 1847 LDS church apostle Parley P. Pratt explored Utah Valley, and, by the spring of 1849, church leaders were ready to begin colonization of present-day Utah County, selecting a group of thirty men to become the first permanent white settlers. Teenager George Washington Bean was among the first group to move to Utah Valley. He later wrote of this consequential day: "On April 1st, my eighteenth birthday, we moved on to within about 2 1/2 miles of Timpanogos River (Provo River) when we were m e t by a young Indian Brave on horseback dashing toward us as fast as he could ride, throwing out his arms and performing all sorts of wild gesticulations." When the young man got close to the group "he jumped off 53
