Juab County, Utah: History
The area of future Juab County was inhabited by nomadic indigenous peoples before the Mormon settlement of Utah beginning in 1847. Soon after, Mormons and others traveling through the area had established a road to California, leading SSW from Great Salt Lake City. It passed Salt Creek, flowing westward through a slough in the Wasatch Mountains. The area around this creek was often used as a stopping or camping spot by travelers and by 1851 Mormon settlers had begun a settlement in the area. When the Utah Territory legislature created a county (by partitioning territory from Utah County) to oversee the growth and organization of the largely uninhabited and unbearable area, this settlement (called Salt Creek) was the only real settlement worthy of the name, and it was designated as the county seat in a March 3, 1852, legislative act. The new county's description included considerable territory falling in present-day Nevada. The county name reportedly derived from a Native American word meaning thirsty valley, or possibly only valley.
The county's boundaries were altered in 1854, 1855, and 1856. Also, in 1856 the Territory legislature, acknowledging the upcoming establishment of Nevada Territory, removed from the boundary description of Juab county all territories west of 114 degrees longitude. Further boundary adjustments were made in 1861, 1862, 1866, 1870, in 1888, and 1913. A small adjustment between Juab and Sanpete counties on March 8, 1919, created the current Juab County configuration.
Early settlers in Salt Creek devoted themselves to agriculture and livestock. However, by 1869 mining of precious metals had begun in the Tintic region. Mining towns, including Diamond, Silver City, and Eureka, appeared. By 1889 it was considered one of the nation's most productive mining areas. Mining continued as the dominant economic driver through the mid-twentieth century, then subsided. Salt Creek grew apace, although in 1882 the town name (and US Post Office designation) was changed to "Nephi".