Existing comment:
A Place Nobody Wanted
When the Mormons fled to Utah in 1847, they were looking for a place nobody else wanted. From Salt Lake City, Brigham Young "called" them to colonize towns and cities all over the great West. The last call came August 22, 1877, when Brother Brigham asked Mormons in the Sanpete Valley to colonize Castle Valley, between the foot of the Wasatch Plateau (to the west) and the edge of the San Rafael Swell. Some have wondered if Castle Valley was the very last place on earth nobody else wanted. Most of those who came were young and filled with hope, looking for an opportunity to get some pastureland and build a new life. But one of the first women in the Valley, Hanna Olsson Seely, saw it differently: "Damn the man who would bring a woman to such a God Forsaken country," she said. But she stayed and like so many others, made a home in a harsh and arid land. |