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The region was first explored for Spain by
Franciscan friars Escalante and Dominguez in 1776. In 1824 the
famous American frontiersman Jim Bridger discovered the Great
Salt Lake. Fleeing religious persecution
in the East and Midwest, the Mormons arrived in 1847 and began
to build Salt Lake City. The U.S. acquired the Utah region in
the treaty ending the Mexican War in 1848, and the first
transcontinental railroad was completed with the driving of a
golden spike at Promontory Summit in 1869.
Mormon difficulties with the federal
government about polygamy did not end until the Mormon Church
renounced the practice in 1890, six years before Utah became a
state.
Rich in natural resources, Utah has long been
a leading producer of copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, and
molybdenum. Oil has also become a major product. Utah shares
rich oil shale deposits with Colorado and Wyoming. Utah also has
large deposits of low sulphur coal.
The state's top agricultural commodities
include cattle and calves, dairy products, hay, greenhouse and
nursery products, and hogs.
Utah's traditional industries of agriculture
and mining are complemented by increased tourism and growing
aerospace, biomedical, and computer-related businesses.
Utah is a great vacationland with 11,000 mi of
fishing streams and 147,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs. Among
the many tourist attractions are Arches, Bryce Canyon,
Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion National Parks; Cedar
Breaks, Dinosaur, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, Rainbow Bridge,
Timpanogos Cave, and Grand Staircase (Escalante) National
Monuments; the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City; and Monument
Valley. Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. |
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