Historic Photographs of the Construction of  
&Strawberry Valley Project (1905-1920)

In 1847, the first Mormon settlers entered the present state of Utah. They entered a part of the Great Basin Desert, arid and uninviting. The Mormons spread out across most of the land they called Deseret, some going to the southern Utah Valley. They soon began farming the few tracts of arable land in the valley that received sufficient water. As early as 1847, settlers near Utah Lake first diverted the nearby rivers and streams for irrigation. The close-knit cooperation among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints provided a basis for Utah citizens to work closely, and fairly easily together on subsequent projects. The tradition of cooperation led to the relative smoothness of the negotiations by the citizens of Utah and Wasatch Counties with Reclamation in creating the Strawberry Valley Project.

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