Editing Emery County, Utah (section)

===Arrival of pioneers===
In 1875 livestock growers from Sanpete County brought cattle and sheep into Castle Valley to graze, and several recognized the settlement potential of the region. With a shortage of sufficient land and water in [[Sanpete County]] and a strong desire by [[LDS Church]] leaders to acquire unoccupied land in the region before non-Mormons did, young families began moving into Castle Valley in the fall of 1877 to homestead in the future sites of Huntington, Ferron, Castle Dale, and Orangeville.<ref name=UHE>{{Citation | last = Powell | first = Allan Kent | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = Emery County | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/e/EMERY_COUNTY.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240302202135/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/e/EMERY_COUNTY.shtml | archive-date = March 2, 2024 | isbn = 9780874804256 | access-date = April 19, 2024}}</ref>

In late August 1877, [[Brigham Young]], president of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church), issued an order to the Sanpete LDS Stake president seeking "... at least fifty families [to] locate in Castle Valley this fall." The order led to the last Mormon colony settled under the direction of Brigham Young. One week later on August 29, Young, the Great Colonizer, died. During his 30 years as leader of the LDS Church, Young had overseen and directed the establishment of almost 400 towns and villages. The settlement of Emery County was his last.

Soon after the issuance of Young's order, several bands of settlers moved out from the Sanpete region and headed for Castle Valley (Emery County). They settled along Huntington Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Ferron Creek. The following spring (1878), several more families arrived. In the spring of 1878, Elias Cox and Charles Hollingshead set up a sawmill in Huntington Canyon to support the colony. On Ferron Creek, settlers plowed lands and began the construction of a ditch for irrigation. Most early settlers in Castle Valley claimed easily watered bottom lands along the creeks and rivers, and by 1879, most of the best lands had been taken up.<ref name=JO>Wm. Joe Simonds; The Emery County Project; [[Bureau of Reclamation]] History Program</ref>

The Utah Territorial Legislature created Emery County on February 12, 1880. The description included the future [[Carbon County, Utah|Carbon County area]]. It was named for [[George W. Emery]], the [[Utah Territory]] governor whose term was ending as the act was being debated.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|publisher=Govt. Print. Off.|author=Gannett, Henry|year=1905|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n118 119]}}</ref> The 1880 census showed 556 people and 84 farms in Emery County, but this figure is likely short as many prominent settlers were inadvertently left off the county rolls. By 1890, the population of Emery County had risen to 2,866. Between 1880 and 1900, many significant canals were constructed, including the [[Huntington, Utah|Huntington]] Canal (1884), [[Emery, Utah|Emery Canal]] (1885), [[Cleveland, Utah|Cleveland]] Canal (1885), and the Wakefield Ditch (1880). Many of the early canals are still in service.<ref name=RO/> The county boundaries were altered in 1880 and 1890. In 1894 the north portion of the county was partitioned off to create Carbon County. The county boundaries remained intact after that, except for a small adjustment in the city of [[Green River, Utah|Green River]] in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/UT_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |title=Individual County Chronologies/Emery County UT. &#91;&#91;Newberry Library&#93;&#93; (accessed March 29, 2019) |access-date=March 30, 2019 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306153326/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/UT_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the early 1880s, the [[Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad]] contemplated possible routings through the Emery County region. Early plans to locate the railroad through the heart of Emery County were thwarted when the route over the [[Wasatch Range]] was too steep. The route was moved to the NE part of the county, bypassing most settlements. Most of the county thus missed on economic opportunities brought by the railroad, but Green River, on the east county border, quickly boomed after the rails arrived.<ref name=JO/>