Editing Upshur County, Texas (section)

== History ==
Humans have inhabited what is now Upshur County since at least 10,000 years ago. The [[Caddoan]] people lived in this area, but were driven out about 1750, probably due to losses from new [[infectious disease]]s carried chronically by Europeans.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Later, some [[Cherokee]] migrated to the area from their territories in the Southeast – Georgia and Alabama. The Cherokee were driven out of here by European-American settlers in 1839, after having been [[Indian Removal|removed]] from the Southeast.<ref name="tshaonline.org">[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcu01 UPSHUR COUNTY | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The first European-American settler in Upshur County was probably Isaac Moody, who settled there in 1836.<ref name="tshaonline.org" /> Upshur County was named for [[Abel Parker Upshur]], Secretary of State under [[John Tyler]].<ref name="tshaonline.org" />

Upshur County has the distinction of being the county that has the largest settlement in Texas organized by [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]. In 1904, the [[Latter-day Saint]] [[Mission (LDS Church)|Southwestern States Mission]] organized a colony at [[Kelsey, Texas]].<ref>Jenson, Andrew. ''Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 129</ref>

On March 21, 2022, Upshur County was hit by an [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF-2]] tornado with winds reported as high as 135&nbsp;mph. Extensive damage was reported but no fatalities.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff reports |title=NWS: Upshur County tornado traveled 40-mile path of destruction, was one of 6 in East Texas |url=https://www.news-journal.com/news/public_safety/nws-upshur-county-tornado-traveled-40-mile-path-of-destruction-was-one-of-6-in/article_63b108c0-ab74-11ec-9dd5-5f4313e3e5df.html |access-date=May 4, 2022 |website=Longview News-Journal |date=March 24, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> This tornado was a part of the [[tornado outbreak of March 21–23, 2022]].