THE LAND BEFORE MORMON SETTLEMENT J. he configuration of the land, the way rocks lie, the courses rivers flow, and the weather patterns ad influence human activity in an area. Geology, geography, flora and fauna, and weather influenced when people came to the area now known as Wasatch County, how long they stayed there, and what economic ventures they attempted. The Native Americans who hunted in the Strawberry Vadey, the trappers who traveled along the rivers, the explorers who surveyed the terrain, and the Mormons who established settlements did not understand ad of the geological history, but they saw the effects.
Geology Wasatch County is a part of several complicated geological features. The area lies in the Middle Rocky Mountains Province, with its mountains formed during the Paleozoic age. As marine water left the area, carboniferous and other sediment hardened into limestone, sandstone, and other sedimentary rocks. Geologists beUeve that as the earth shifted, its surface slowly folded and broke and the Rocky Mountains were lifted up. Wasatch County lies at the crossing of two 11
