BRIEF HISTORY OF UTAH Ron Rood and Linda Thatcher Utah's
thousands of years of prehistory and its centuries of known
recorded history are so distinctive and complex that a summary
can only hint at the state's rich heritage. The synopsis offered
here follows major themes in Utah history and includes some of
the significant dates, events, and individuals. Utah presents an
unusually varied landscape with three major physiographic
provinces extending into the state. The Rocky Mountain Province
takes up a V-shaped section of northeastern Utah and includes
the Uinta and Wasatch mountains. The Colorado Plateau Province
dominates east central and southeastern Utah from the Uinta
Basin south to Canyonlands and the high plateau country. Western
Utah lies in the Basin and Range Province, an area of deserts as
well as mountain ranges separated by broad valleys. Within these
three provinces, Utah ranges in elevation from 2,350 feet above
sea level in the southwest corner of the state to 13,528 feet on
Kings Peak in the Ui