San Juan County, Utah Genealogy

United States &gt; Utah &gt; San Juan County

= 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.

Parent County

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

Early Settlements
The earliest 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

Resources
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 one of the towns in San Juan County the city of Blanding. Today 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.

Cemeteries
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

Court
The County Court and county records are located in the county seat : 117 South Main Street

Monticello, Utah 84535

= Local Histories =

Blanding ( Grayson)
April 2, 1905 Blanding had its first settlers on what locals called White Masa, and the Navajo's called "Sagebrush." Albert Robison Lyman with his wife Mary Ellen Perkins and baby daughter Casse. In May of that year Joseph A. Lyman moved to the townsite with the first delivery of mail, on horse back, twice or three times a week. Blanding was first known as Grayson after Joseph's wife Nellie Grayson. By June 11 four more families were in Grayson W.C. Lyman's, Alvin Lyman, Hanse Bogh's and the Fletcher B. Hammond's.The first baby in Grayson was born to Nellie May and H. C. Bogh.

An application was made on March 20th 1913 to become a city, it was incorporated as Blanding on July 7th. The name changed to Blanding when a wealthy eastener, Thomas F. Bicknell offered a library of one thousand books to any town in Utah that would change its name to his name, another town, Thurber renamed there town Bicknell. The books were split when Grayson took Thomas Bicknell's wife's maiden name Blanding. The first mayor was Walter C. Lyman. A History of Blanding 1905-1955 written for the 50th Anniversary stated that the Mayors in order since that time were Wayne H. Redd,L. Burton Redd, Joseph B. Harris, H. Durham Bayles, Lelad W. Redd and LaRay Alexander. In prehistoric times San Juan was the land of Anasazi indians untill around 1300 their cliff dwellings, and petroglyphs continue to intrest many. When pioneers came to the area they found not only a wild country but Piutes and Navajos indians living in the area. before the pioneers ever came there were four unique cultures in the Blanding area Anasazi,Navajo, Ute, and Spanish.

Blanding is twenty one miles south of Monticello on US Route 91. It is surrounded by more National and State Parks than anywhere else in America. Blanding is the gateway to Utah Canyon Country.

In 2000 the US Census found Blanding to be the principle city in San Juan County with a population of 3,162 people.

Monticello
The first white man to have a dwelling in Monticello may have been a cattleman named Patrick O'Donall in 1879. In 1887 Mormon pioneers from Bluff a little town in the surrounding area were sent to establish a new settlement. In 1888 a meeting was held suggesting three names,none of the names were chosen then President Francis A. Hammond the leading Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) sake President leader suggested Monticello in honor of Thomas Jefferson and the name was approved.

Along with much of San Juan County Monticello increased in economic growth and population because the uranium boom in the latter part of 1940's to early 1960's. After the boom there was a massive cleanup by the U.S. Department of Energy going from 1989 to 2004 putting the land back as it was before the boom.

In the US Census in 2000 the population was 1,958.

To obtain record from the county seat you may write to 117 South Main Monticello 84535

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.

Vital Records
Utah Death Certificates 1904 - 1956 -A free internet access to the 1904-1956 death certificates can be viewed on the Family Search Record Search Pilot. 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.

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)
 * San Juan County, Utah Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)