Uintah County is located in the northeastern corner of Utah. The county is located 180 miles east of Salt Lake City and 300 miles west of Denver.

Some of the earliest inhabitants were the Fremont Indians, or Basketmakers. Their rock writings, along with those of other pre-historic tribes, can still be found in our valley. The Ute Indians settled in the area following the Fremont. The name "Uinta" comes from one of these Ute tribes.

The first Caucasians to explore this area were Franciscan priests Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velz De Escalante who stopped on the Green River in 1776.

Early trappers and mountain men criss-crossed the area in search of beaver (which paid $8.00 a pound). One of these, William Henry Ashley, left his name on the valley and its main creek. Antoine Robidoux and others established dwellings or "forts". Robidoux's fort near Whiterocks is thought to be the oldest year-round settlement in Utah.


In 1861 Brigham Young sent a small party to explore the basin for possible settlement. They reported, "That all that section of country lying between the Wasatch Mountains and the eastern boundary of the territory, and south of the Green River country, was one vast contiguity of waste and measurably valueless." With this report, Young decided not to send settlers here.

On February 14, 1873, Pardon Dodds and others entered the valley to raise livestock. They settled in Ashley, Uintah County's first county seat. Uintah County was organized on February 8, 1880.

The area which is no Vernal was settled by other groups of people who "forted up" in a central part of the valley due to the Meeker Massacre of September 29, 1879. When a postal address was requested, the name "Ashley Center" was suggested, but it was too similar to Ashley Town which was already in use. The name "Vernal" (meaning "like spring" in reference to the green valley) was assigned to the community.

Uintah County was established in 1880 and is the eleventh largest county in Utah, with a population of over 31,000. The majority of the county's land (85%) is managed by state, federal, and tribal governments with only 15% being private.

The county seat, Vernal, is the busiest retail hub on highway 40, drawing consumers in from a 100 mile radius which includes Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.

The County contains the geological remains of prehistoric Uintah Lake, formed during the late Tertiary period, the same period when sediment was deposited in the lake bottom to form Gilsonite, oil shale, tar sands, oil and natural gas.

Over 60% of the natural gas produced in Utah comes from Uintah County.

Uintah County's economy rests on farming, ranching and extraction.

Businesses located in Uintah County benefit from abundant natural resource development, educational opportunities, a quality work force, and vast recreational activities of all kinds.