Posted on 04.07.2014, 08.10.2014
Bordered by Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada (and touching a corner of New Mexico), Utah, one of the Four Corners states, is well known as the most religiously homogeneous state in the Union (its nickname is Beehive State), approximately 62% of Utahns being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS (Mormons), which greatly influences the state's culture and daily life. The world headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is located in the state capital, Salt Lake City, founded in 1847 in proximity to the Great Salt Lake. It is a geographically diverse state, located at the convergence of three distinct geological regions: the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau. Utah is known for its natural diversity and is home to features ranging from arid deserts with sand dunes to thriving pine forests in mountain valleys.
Thousands of years before the arrival of European explorers, the Anasazi/Ancestral Pueblo and the Fremont tribes lived in what is now Utah. Around the 18th century, the Navajo settled in the region, and then other Uto-Aztecan tribes, including the Goshute, the Paiute, the Shoshone, and the Ute people (who gave the name of the state). Spaniards explored the region in the 16th century, but weren't interested in colonizing. In 1821 it became part of Mexico (Alta California), and in 1824 Jim Bridger became the first white person to sight the Great Salt Lake. In 1847 Brigham Young and the first band of Mormon pioneers came to the Salt Lake Valley, and over the next 22 years, more than 70,000 pioneers crossed the plains and settled in Utah.
Read more »