Rio Virgen County is a former

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the U.S. state of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. It was established by the Territory of Utah on February, 1869.

History

Iron County, Provisional State of Deseret; Washington County, Utah

Latter-day Saints, in 1839, two years after their initial arrival in

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...

, within then uncolonized eastern

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

, created the Provisional " Deseret," proposed to include the watersheds both of the ''Río Colorado'' and " Great Interior Basin" . Deseret's provisional General Assembly in January 1850 established Little Salt Lake County (later that year renamed

Iron County Iron County is the name of four counties in the United States: *Iron County, Michigan *Iron County, Missouri *Iron County, Utah *Iron County, Wisconsin Iron County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, t ...

) with its southern boundaries' "extending south to the rim of the Basin." The U.S. Congress, in September, 1850, established Utah Territory, with its southern border instead at the 37th parallel. Utah's legislature, in March 1852, created as Washington County as its southernmost county (and its northern boundary definitely defined in 1856 at "a line running east and west .. through a point four miles north from the northeast corner of Fort Harmony").

Sought head of navigation on the Columbia

The Latter-day Saints' leader

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

, sent an exploring party in 1855 to determine a possible

head of navigation The head of navigation is the farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships. Determining the head of navigation can be subjective on many streams, as the point may vary greatly with the size or the draft of the ship be ...

on the Colorado River – that is, to "get the soundings of the river and see if it were navigable for boats" to transport Utah produce and import supplies through a steamship port on the Colorado River. Simultaneously, Young directed a portion of this party to found the then small LDS outpost of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. In 1858, during the Utah War, Young sent a second party "to explore the Rio Colorado and the country adjacent to it for suitable locations for settlements." In 1864, Young's saying, "We shall shortly want another path to bring home the atter-daySaints, and we want to prepare for it .. The Colorado is not far from our southern settlements, only one hundred twenty-five miles from

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

," Young outfitted and dispatched a Church mission that founded Call's Landing ( Callville) on the Colorado.

Church mission on the Muddy River

The following year after the founding of Call's Landing, Young sent missions to found settlements on a Colorado River tributary, the Muddy River, starting in January 1865.

'Arizona Strip's' creation in 1866

Utah's legislature in February 1865 suggested that Congress grant the areas to Utah within

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

north of canyonlands of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

(the present-day Arizona Strip as well as the western portion of Mohave County then in Arizona Territory). This would have cede jurisdiction over the settlements on the Muddy River and at the Beaver Dam Wash on the Virgin River to Utah. Instead, in 1866 when Congress redrew Utah Territory's western border at 114° longitude, the Muddy River settlements were now below the Nevada Territory border; thus, even were it the case that Utah's border became redrawn southward, the Muddy River area would not be in Utah's confines. Utah's legislature in February 1869 formed a runt "Rio Virgen County" from a small area nearby at very western part of Washington County (which it divided from the new county at

Beaver Dam Wash The Beaver Dam Wash is a seasonal stream near the southwestern Utah-Nevada border in the United States. At its southern end in northern Arizona, near the point where it empties into the Virgin River, the stream flows throughout the year. Part of t ...

, or at 115° longitude). St. Thomas, settled in 1865 was established as Rio Virgen County's seat. In 1870, upon completion of U.S. governmnet surveys, Utah's ersatz Rio Virgen settlements acknowledged that they were in

Pah-Ute County, Arizona Territory Pah-Ute County is a former County (United States), county in the northwest corner of Arizona Territory that existed from 1865 until 1871, at which point most of the area was transferred to Nevada. The remainder was merged into Mohave County, Ariz ...

(1865–1871; whose area comprised those parts of Arizona Territory north of "Roaring Rapids" on the Colorado River and west of 113° 20” west longitude), with Pah-Ute County's seat at Callville.

Arizona's northwestern annexation to Nevada in 1867

Congress in 1867 annexed the portions of Pah-Ute County west of 114 degrees west longitude to Lincoln County, Nevada Territory. (Utah came to formally annex "all that portion of Rio Virgin County now remaining in the Territory" back into Washington County on February 16, 1872.)

References

{{reflist Former counties of Utah 1869 establishments in Utah Territory