On The Road loves the history and scenery of rural Utah and wonders how the rural part of the state is faring during the pandemic.  This week we looked to one of the most uniquely-shaped counties, Juab, to see what we could find. 

Present day Juab County is shaped like a key that could be used to open doors in a Harry Potter scene.  The shaft of the key (the county’s west end) borders Nevada and along its north and south borders –and in straight lines– are the counties of Tooele (north) and Millard (south). The key “bit” of Juab County fits into the tumblers of Utah and SanPete Counties.

Early Conflicts with Native Americans

Most of the early settlements in Utah were along the streams flowing out of the Wasatch Mountain Range.   These same streams were used by Native American tribes for hunting, gathering and fishing.  Conflict between the settlers and the natives over these favored areas was inevitable and culminated in what is called the Walker War.

While the Paiutes generally worked out agreements with the white settlers, the Utes economy was more disrupted by the settlers. Historians generally believe that the tensions between the Utes and the settlers reached a tipping point when the Utah legislature passed a law prohibiting the Utes from kidnapping women and children from other tribes and selling them to slave traders in New Mexico.  As slave trade was lucrative income for the Utes, the act drove them to arms.

The Walker War

In 1853 near present day Springville, Utes came to a cabin to trade fish for flour and a dispute ensued.  One of the Utes was killed by a white settler.  Under the leadership of Chief Walker or Wakara, the Utes attacked settlers in Juab, Utah, Millard, San Pete and Iron Counties. There were fewer than twenty deaths among the white settlers, but more among the Utes before Brigham Young and Chief Walker signed a peace treaty in May 1854 at Chicken Creek in Juab County.

Present Day and Pandemic Response

And how is Juab faring during the pandemic? The CDC notes as of the week ending 28 June 2021, Juab county has a vaccination rate of about 22.4% of the total population of the county with 34 people receiving the vaccine during the week of 22-28, June.  The neighboring counties of Tooele and Millard reach vaccination rates of 29.8% and 26.3%, respectively.  Tooele had 651 new vaccinations while Millard had 45 during the week of 22-28 June 2021.