THE LAND AND ITS EARLY INHABITANTS "Show me one thing of beauty in the whole area and I'll stay."—Wilhemina Cannon "It looks like the good Lord took everything left over from the creation, dumped it here, then set it on fire."—Juanita Brooks " . . . showing no signs of water or fertility;... a wide expanse of chaotic matter presented itself, huge hills, sandy deserts, cheerless, grassless plains, perpendicular rocks, loose barren clay, dissolving beds of sandstone.. .lying in inconceivable confusion—in short a country in ruins, dissolved by the pelting of the storm of ages, or turned inside out, upside down by terrible convulsions in some former age..."—Parley P. Pratt
Geologic Description The above early descriptions of Washington County reflected the feelings of many white people when they first saw the area. The geology, geography, and climate of the area all played an important role in its human activity and settlement, from the earliest inhabitants to
