Uniquely Us

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History

Salina’s history began in October 1863 when Elder Orson Hyde sent three men to this area to scout out the land for the availability of water and timber, and to report if a settlement could be started here. Those three men were Niels C. Rasmussen, Peter Rasmussen, and Peter Sorenson.

What they found was a desert valley full of sagebrush and greasewood, and the ground covered with salt. It has been said that the only thing that looked good to them was good timber in the canyon and a good stream flowing down to the valley. They reported that the resources looked favorable for about 20 to 30 families to survive here.

The first families came to Salina in covered wagons. They began to make a community by building dugouts for homes, corrals for their cattle and horses, and by digging ditches and canals to bring water to their crops. They also started to build a church. But they only got the walls up about 10 feet when it became apparent that it would be needed as a fort to protect them from Indian raids. They later found it necessary to build a larger fort nearby for additional protection. Life in this barren wilderness certainly had a difficult and very challenging beginning.

Since many salt deposits were found in the area, Salina derived its name from the Spanish word “salada” which means salty. Brigham Young told the settlers that the salt must be washed from the soil before they would be able to grow healthy crops. It was a tedious task that took many washings and perseverance, but they did as asked and were able to grow fine crops. The water in their wells was also very salty and it needed to settle in barrels before they could use it.

One of the first and most important projects they had was to dig the ditches and canals to bring water from the creek to their crops. They failed many times before they were finally successful in their primitive attempts.

Their first homes were temporary dugouts, dug either in the banks of the creek, down into the ground. Most of them had willow roofs covered with mud. Some were lined with rock. Cooking was done at a fireplace built at one end of these primitive homes, the chimney sticking up out of the ground.

War with the Indians soon drove the settlers out of Salina for about six years in order to preserve their lives, but many returned when the Blackhawk War ended in 1871 and they resettled this little community.

The early settlers soon discovered that the surrounding mountains contained, not only much timber, but inexhaustible resources of coal, as well as zinc, lead, copper, and small quantities of gold and silver.

It’s interesting to note that Salina lies 150 miles south and on the same Meridian line as Salt Lake City, it being positioned directly south of Brigham Young’s Beehive House.

Written by Sylvia Barney, Miss Mary's Museum Curator

Founding Families

Niels C. Rasmussen, Peter Rasmussen, and Peter Sorenson

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