Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake, or its initials, S.L.C. It was originally known as Great Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City is also known as the "Crossroads of the West".
Salt Lake City has a population of over 178,000. The Salt Lake City metropolitan area spans Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties, and has a total estimated population of more than 1,034,000. It is the third-highest metropolitan population in the interior western U.S.
The city was founded in 1847 by a group of Mormon pioneers led by the prophet Brigham Young, who fled hostility from the midwest. Salt Lake City is now the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the L.D.S. or Mormon Church.
History
Before Mormon settlement, several Native American groups, the Ute, the Shoshone, and the Paiute, had dwelt in the Salt Lake Valley for thousands of years. They were semi-nomadic and camped where streams come out of the nearby mountains. The first Caucasian near present-day Salt Lake City was an explorer named Jim Bridger. Bridger explored the area in 1825.
The first Europeans to settle in the region were the Latter-Day Saints, the first of whom arrived in 1847. They traveled beyond the boundaries of the United States to find an isolated place to practice their religion. Brigham Young is recorded as stating "This is the right place," after seeing the area in a vision. They found a large valley without settlements.
Only four days after arriving in the area, Brigham Young designed the site for the Salt Lake Temple. Constructed on what is now called Temple Square, the temple took forty years to complete (started in 1853, and dedicated on April 6, 1893).
The Mormon Pioneers organized a new state called Deseret and petitioned for it's recognition in 1849. The United States Congress established Utah Territory in 1850. In 1858, Great Salt Lake City became the territorial capitol, replacing Fillmore. The city's population swelled with an influx of religious converts, making it one of the most populous cities in the American West.
