San Juan County, Utah Genealogy

United States  Utah  San Juan County

County Courthouse
www.sanjuancounty.org Clerk/Auditor: P. O. Box 338 Monticello, UT 84535 Phone: (435)587-3223 Fax: (435)587-2425

Parent County

 * 1880--San Juan County was created 17 February 1880 from Kane, Iron, and Piute Counties. County seat: Monticello

History
Before 1300 the Anasazi Indians were inahabitating the land that would some day becoame San Juan. The cliff dwellings and petroglphs of the Anasazi still interest many. When pioneers came to the area they not only found a wild country but Piutes, and Navajos. The Spanish explorers had left the country naming the river that flowed though the area, San Juan in memory of Saint John. The State Legislature named the county after the the San Juan River.

The County is located in the southeastern corner of the State having 7,725 square miles more land than any other county in Utah. It also has many state and national parks including Edge of the Cedars Museum and the Goosenecks of the San Juan River. The National parks include part of Canyonlands, Glen Canyon, Hovenweep and Manti-La-Sal Forest. The Natural Bridges and Rainbow Bridge Natinal Monuments are within San Juan County, as well as Cedar Mesa and Comb Wash.

San Juan County had a great deal of growth in the 1940's and 1950's because of the uranium mines in the County and oil which accounted for 94 percent of all property tax in those years. Today the only operating Uranium Processing plant operates in Blanding San Juan County. Today in all the towns the economic resources are mostly tourists because of the many parks within the County both National and State, the other the resources are livestock, and agriculture.

CITIES AND TOWNS

NOTE: Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Wikipedia for San Juan County, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_County,_Utah


 * Aneth - is the site of the local government. It is the location of the meetings. The area under the local government is called Aneth Chapter, and is a part of the Navajo Nation's system of local governments known as chapter houses. Aneth Chapter is part of Navajo Nation and is located north of the San Juan River, streching from Montezuma Creek, Utah to the Colorado state border, with disputed territories east of Bluff, Utah and along the northern border.

Aneth has had a variety of titles, including Riverview (1878-85), Holyoak (1886 to around 1895), Guillette, and finally Aneth, a Hebrew word meaning "The Answer," given by Howard Antes, a Methodist missionary who lived there beginning in 1895.[1a, pg 18]

Reference: 1a. "A History of San Juan County" In the Palm of Time, by Robert S. McPherson, Utah Centennial County History Series, 1995 Utah State Historical Society, San Juan County Commission


 * Blanding - was settled in the late 19th century by Mormon settlers, predominantly from the famed Hole-In-The-Rock expedition.

Blanding is located near both the Navajo and White Mesa Ute Native American reservations, and a significant percentage of Blanding's population has family ties to these nearby cultures.

First known as Grayson (after Nellie Grayson Lyman, wife of settler Joseph Lyman), the town changed its name in 1914 when a wealthy easterner, Thomas W. Bicknell, offered a thousand-volume library to any town that would adopt his name. Grayson competed with Thurber, Utah (renamed Bicknell) for the prize. Grayson was renamed Blanding after the maiden name of Bicknell's wife, and each of the towns received 500 books.[3]

Reference: 3.^ Van Cott, John W. (1990). Utah Place Names. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press. p.39. ISBN 0-87480-345-4


 * Bluff - Under the direction of John Taylor, Silas S. Smith led about 230 Mormons on expedition to start a farming community in southeastern Utah. After forging about 200 miles (320 kilometers) of their own trail over difficult terrain, the settlers arrived on the site of Bluff in April 1880.[4] (The trail followed went over and down the "Hole In the Rock", which now opens into one of the tributaries of Lake Powell.) The town’s population had declined to seventy by 1930[citation needed] but rebounded during a uranium prospecting boom in the 1950s.[4] With the uranium decline in the 1970s Bluff again declined and now remains a small town with about 300 residents.

Reference: 4.^ a b History of Bluff


 * Halchita - no historical/genealogical information available
 * Halls Crossing - no historical/genealogical information available
 * La Sal - no historical/genealogical information available
 * Mexican Hat - It is on U.S. Route 163 just three miles (5 km) south of the junction with State Route 261, and is just outside the northern boundary of both the Navajo Nation and Monument Valley.

The name "Mexican Hat" comes from a curiously sombrero-shaped, 60-foot (18 m) wide by 12-foot (3.7 m) thick (18.3 x 3.7 m), rock outcropping on the northeast edge of town.


 * Montezuma Creek - Montezuma Creek (San Juan River), named for a tributary of the San Juan River, is located within and partially outside the boundaries of the Navajo Nation on the northwestern border of that vast Indian Reservation known locally as "The Rez." It is a center for oil and gas field work in the area, and a school as well as several churches.

A large feature in Montezuma Creek is Top of the World, it is a prime gathering and social spot for locals. Its name is derived from it being the highest point in Montezuma Creek area.


 * Monticello ( /mɒntɪˈsɛloʊ/) - is a city located in San Juan County, Utah, and is the county seat. The Monticello area was settled in July 1887 by pioneers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Monticello, named in honor of Thomas Jefferson's estate,[3] became the county seat in 1895 and was incorporated as a city in 1910.[4]

Monticello, along with much of San Juan County, experienced an increase in population and economic activity during the uranium boom from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.[5] Several uranium and vanadium mines were opened in the area, and a uranium processing mill was operated in Monticello by the Federal Government from 1948 to 1960.[6]

In 1998, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the Monticello Utah Temple, the first in a series of mini temples and the 53rd temple for the Church.

Monticello was one of the many cities established by Mormon pioneers in the Utah Territory, which became the State of Utah.[4] Farming, ranching, and uranium mining have all played an important role in the economy and history of the town. [4]

Early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also referred to as Mormons or LDS, began the first full-scale settling of what is now known as San Juan County, Utah. Few white residents had settled along the San Juan River prior to the arrival of the Mormon pioneers from the San Juan Expedition. After passing through Hole-In-The-Rock, the pioneers arrived in the San Juan County area and settled in Bluff on 6 April 1880.[10] In that year, on a journey to northern Utah from the San Juan River settlements, Apostles Erastus Snow and Brigham Young, Jr. passed through the current site of Monticello. They were quite impressed by it, and this encounter was one of the key factors behind LDS settlement there a few years later.[11] After struggling to farm along the unpredictable San Juan River, leaders began to look to settle the higher country at the base of the Abajo Mountains, also known as the Blue Mountains, where several streams and springs descended from the mountain. Piute Springs, Solder’s Spring, and Montezuma Creek were a few of the water sources in the area named by passersby.[4]

In March 1886, Francis A. Hammond, the LDS Stake President (the leading LDS regional authority) of San Juan County, sent scouts from Bluff to identify possible locations for settlements near the water sources of the Blue Mountains. The scouts found that a few people had already begun to utilize the land. The first white man to build a cabin in the Monticello area was likely cattleman Patrick O'Donnell in 1879.[3] The North and South Forks of Montezuma Canyon, through which Montezuma Creek flows, were being utilized when the scouts arrived. The Kansas and New Mexico Cattle and Land Company, operated by Edmund and Harold Carlisle, was located a few miles north of what is now Monticello, and the L.C. outfit was headquartered in the South Fork of Montezuma Canyon.[4]

Notwithstanding the fact that others were utilizing the land, Hammond sent the families of George A. Adams, Frederick I. Jones, Parley R. Butt and Charles E. Walton from Bluff to establish a new settlement at what is now Monticello.[4][12] They first set up camp at Verdure near the South Fork of Montezuma Creek on March 11, 1887, six miles (10 km) south of what is now Monticello.[12] By the first part of July, 1887, the men had begun to plant crops, survey an irrigation ditch, and layout a town site in the present-day Monticello area.[4] Conflicts soon began with the Carlisle cowboys and Ute Indians over water and land rights, resulting in warning shots, heated disputes, and legal battles.

Learning from lawyers that the Carlisles had very little legal claim to any of the region, the Mormons claimed all the water from the South Fork and three-fourths of the water from the North Fork. In the spring of 1888, the Adams and Butt families remained in Verdure while the rest of the settlers moved to North Montezuma and began construction of the town. [4][12]

Early names for the settlement were North Montezuma Creek, Piute Springs, and Hammond, after the stake president.[3][4] In a formal meeting in 1888,[11] three names were under consideration: North Montezuma, Hammond, and the biblical name, Antioch. None of the names were approved by the younger members of the community. When Hammond recommended Monticello, in honor of Thomas Jefferson’s estate, everyone approved and it was accepted.[3]

The San Juan Record, the county newspaper, was established in Monticello by Oscar Walter McConkie in 1915, where it remains to this day.[4]

On October 4, 1997, President Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced that the Church would begin to build a new series of "miniature temples." The first of such temples was built in Monticello. Groundbreaking began on November 17, 1997. An open house was held from July 15 to July 18, 1998, and the Monticello Utah Temple was dedicated July 26, 1998. The temple was subsequently expanded and rededicated on November 17, 2002. The Monticello Temple was the 53rd temple completed by the Church.[21]

Reference: 3.^ "Monticello," Utah Place Names. Van Cott, John W. Salt Lake City, Utah : University of Utah. University of Utah Press, 1990. 4.^ "Monticello", Utah History Encyclopedia. Powell, Allan Kent, ed. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1994. Accessed 28 Oct. 2009. http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/m/MONTICELLO.html 5.^ See Census data for this time period 6.^ "Monticello Mill Tailings," Superfund Program, United States Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed 28 Oct. 2009. 12.^ Historical marker placed at Verdure, UT, by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 8/16/1995. Accessed 28 Oct. 2009. 21.^ Monticello Utah Official Website http://lds.org/church/temples/monticello-utah?lang=eng


 * Navajo Mountain - no historical/genealogical information available
 * Oljato-Monument Valley - no historical/genealogical information available
 * Spanish Valley - on almost all maps of the area, and especially in local usage, the name identifies the geographicvalley that extends south of the city of Moab. The majority of the valley, and the majority of the population living in it, lies within Grand County the northern neighbor to San Juan County. Only the southern-most third of Spanish Valley lies within San Juan County, and it is the least populated.
 * Tselakai Dezza - no historical/genealogical information available
 * White Mesa - no historical/genealogical information available

Native Races
The Navajo Mountain Community a Social Organzation and Kinship Terminology by Mary Shapardson and Blodwen Hammond, Publication University of California Press,c 1970 Family History Library (FHL) US/CAN book 970.3 N227

Early Settlements
The earliest pioneer settlers to the San Juan area were part of a group which came to be called the "San Juan or Hole-In-The-Rock Mission." The Mission was sent by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints or Mormon's to win the favor of the indians and to establish good relations thus they needed to find a route in that wild country. Before they could come Captain Silas Sanford Smith was asked to lead twenty-four scouts, cattle and other loose animals besides their pack-horses. Two families Harriman and Davis familys were to prepare to help the other pioneers that would take part in the "Hole-In -The-Rock Mission" A list of many of those early settlers is available online.

Neighboring Counties
Emery | Garfield | Grand | Kane | Wayne | Arizona counties: Apache | Coconino | Navajo | Colorado counties: Dolores | Mesa | Montrose | San Miguel | San Juan County, New Mexico

Cemeteries
San Juan county cemeteries at the Utah State Historical site

Blanding City Cemetery, Blanding Indian Graveyard, Bluff City FHL Book: 979.259 V3t

Census
The 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 U.S. federal population schedules of San Juan County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see Utah Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in national indexes, try checking local indexes. Created by experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than nationwide indexes.

See Utah Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book for more information about statewide printed indexes.


 * 1880
 * 1890
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Blanding
 * Bluff
 * Grayson
 * La Sal
 * Lockerby
 * Monticello - Portrait of our past a history of Monticello Utah Sake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints FHL US/CAN book 979.25 K2

Early church records, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for San Juan County Wards and Branches can be found on film and are located at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The film numbers, for each ward, can be locate through the Family History Library Catalog at https://www.familysearch.org/. Or by refering to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films.

Court
The County Court and county records are located in the county seat :

Court minutes of San Juan County, Utah 1892-1899

District Court minutes 1896-1921, FHL US/CAN film 483511 Item 3

County Court minutes 1892-1899 FHL US/CAN film 483511 Item 4

Local Histories
A History of San Juan County online at Marriott Library Digital Collections.

Lonesome Trails of San Juan the Ranching legacy of J. A. (Al) Scorup FHL US/CAN book 979.25 H2v

Maps
Maps of Hole-in- the Rock, Utah FHL US/CAN film 1019732

Newspapers
One major resouce for newspapers throughout Utah is the University of Utah's, Utah Digital Newspapers project "with more than 600,000 pages of digitized Utah historical newspapers." One newspaper from San Juan County is included in this digital project, the San Juan Record. Read more... about using Utah newspapers for your family history research.

Probate
Probate register of estates 1888-1966 FHL US/CAN film 483509

Probate records 1888-1912 Record of wills 1922-1966 FHL US/CAN film 483510

Inhertance tax 1907

Vital Records
Marriage license records, 1888-1966 FHL US/CAN film 483508

Register of births and deaths, 1897-1917 FHL US/CAN film 483511 Item 1-2 Western States Marriage Index 

Utah Death Certificates 1904 - 1956 -A free internet access to the 1904-1956 death certificates can be viewed at https://www.familysearch.org/. Utah requires a death certificate before a burial is completed. A death certificate may contain information as to the name of the deceased, date of death, and place of death, as well as the age, birthdate, parents, gender, marital status, spouse and place of residence. Utah State Burial Index for death before 1904

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Blanding Utah Family History Center
 * Bluff Utah Family History Center
 * La Sal Utah Family History Center
 * Monticello Utah Family History Center

Web Sites

 * The San Juan County UT GenWeb Project, a member of The UTGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * San Juan County, Utah Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_County,_Utah City of Monticello, Utah http://www.monticelloutah.org http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello,_Utah Blanding, Utah - DesertUSA http://www.desertusa.com/Cities/ut/blanding.html http://www.utahscanyoncountry.com/
 * Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_County,_Utah City of Monticello, Utah http://www.monticelloutah.org http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello,_Utah Blanding, Utah - DesertUSA http://www.desertusa.com/Cities/ut/blanding.html http://www.utahscanyoncountry.com/