Who Settled the Area That Is Now Utah?

Paleo‑Indians (≈12,000 years ago)

Nomadic hunter‑gatherers hunting bison, deer, elk, and gathering plants.

Fremont Culture (≈2,000 years ago)

Hunter‑gatherers who began farming corn, beans, squash; built pit houses and pueblos.

Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) (13th century)

Advanced farmers with cliff dwellings, pueblos, and irrigation systems.

Spanish Explorers (16th century)

First Europeans; established missions but withdrew due to conflict.

Mormon Pioneers (19th century)

Led by Brigham Young, founded Salt Lake City in 1847; Utah became a state in 1896.