Desert County, Utah Territory

When Desert County, Utah Territory was created March 3, 1852^[1][2][3][4] it extended into present-day Nevada from the shore of the Great Salt Lake on the east to the western edge of the Great Basin in California between Weber and Tooele counties in Utah Territory.

Map of 1856 Utah Territory counties in orange. Present-day Utah has a white background.

On January 5, 1856 Desert County was reduced significantly, and former Desert County land in present-day Nevada was used to form part of three new Utah Territory counties: Carson, Humboldt, and Saint Mary's.^[5] Desert County was extinguished on January 17, 1862 and her remaining land was split between Box Elder and Tooele counties.^[3]

For records of Desert County in what is present-day Nevada, see:

• Nevada State Archives.
• Utah State Archives may have a few records from the Utah Territory Desert County courts and deeds.

Some records for old Desert County, Utah Territory may have been transferred to, or may have been re-recorded in the new counties formed from the old Desert County. See also:

• Carson County, Utah Territory
• Humboldt County, Utah Territory (not to be confused with Humboldt County, Nevada)
• Saint Mary's County, Utah Territory

For records of Desert County in what is present-day Utah, see:

• Box Elder County, Utah
• Tooele County, Utah

References

1. Utah Territory Legislative Assembly, Acts, resolutions, and memorials, passed by the first annual, and special sessions, of the Legislative Assembly, of the Territory of Utah, begun and held at Great Salt Lake City, on the 22nd day of September, A.D., 1851 (1852) (G.S.L. City, U.T.: Legislative Assembly, 1852), 162. Internet Archive edition.
2. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 686.
3. "Chart of County Formation in Utah" in Division of Archives and Records Service at http://archives.utah.gov/research/guides/county-formation.htm (accessed 11 August 2011).
4. John Koontz, Political History of Nevada, 5th ed. (Carson City, Nev.: SPO, 1965), 34-98.
5. Deon C. Greer, Atlas of Utah (Ogden, Utah: Desert State College, 1981), 162-64. Note: In several places Desert County is incorrectly spelled Deseret County in the text of Atlas of Utah.