Rio Virgin County, Utah Genealogy

History
Rio Virgin (or Rio Virgen) was a former county of Utah Territory from 1869 to 1872. It was created by Utah, but mostly covered land outside of Utah. Nevada and Arizona also laid claim to the same land.

See: Previous Jurisdictions to Land in Arizona showing dates the jurisdictions were created and maps. This will help in determining what jurisdiction your ancestor lived in and where the records are now located.
 * 18 January 1867 - The US federal government transferred the northwest corner of Arizona Territory to Nevada. Nevada used the land to increase Lincoln County and Nye County. Arizona opposed loosing this land, twice petitioned Congress for repeal of the law. Utah also opposed transfer of this land.
 * 18 February 1869 - Utah created Rio Virgin County. It was meant to serve the residents of Mesquite, St. Thomas, Bunkerville and other nearby towns which Utah wanted to keep within its influence. The US federal government surveyed the land, which showed Rio Virgin County was mostly in Nevada, with only a small part in Utah and in Pah-Ute County, Arizona.
 * 16 February 1872 - Utah discontinued Rio Virgin County, finally accepting the transfer after exhausting all legal remedies. The tiny bit of Rio Virgin County actually in Utah was restored to Washington County.

Records
Records for Rio Virgin County, Utah Territory may be found:
 * Washington County, Utah

Also look for records in:


 * Lincoln County, Nevada
 * Nye County, Nevada.
 * Mohave County, Arizona (holding records of discontinued Pah-Ute County, Arizona)

See Also:
 * Utah State Archives may have a few records from the Utah Territory's Rio Virgin County courts and deeds.