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Show The Hinterland 105 east central Utah and is a one-county locality. The valley of the Bear River, on the other hand, extends through nine counties in three states. At their extremes these regions are spread over more than 450 miles. Two are in the Great Basin and two in the Colorado Plateau. The plateau regions, Dixie and Carbon, are characterized by broken deserts, drouth, mining resources, and remoteness. The Great Basin regions, Sanpete-Sevier and Bear River, are mountain valleys in a stricter sense and somewhat better watered. The Sanpete-Sevier valleys may be said to be internal, secluded from state boundaries and isolated physically by the canyons of the Colorado on the east and south, by the deserts of the Great Basin to the west, and, during early years, by Salt Lake City which in some degree served as a control point where Mormon leaders sought to exclude worldly influences. By contrast, the Bear River is characterized by four valley systems: the upper drainage, Bear Lake, Cache, and the northeastern corner of the Great Salt Lake Valley. Each of these lies across a state border and has served as a conduit through which cultural influences have moved from state to state. In this outward tending orientation Bear River is similar to both Carbon and Dixie: the former facing into the Colorado Plateau and ultimately to the state of Colorado, and the latter bordering Arizona and Nevada and at great distance relating to southern California and its culture. In all four regions what may be termed the compartmentalization of valleys exists. In each case the valleys have tended to divide people and create within them an awareness of group as well as a keenly developed sense of place. Historically, various regional comparisons could be made, but space dictates that observations here be limited to brief comparisons of settlement's timing and the relationship of communities. Sanpete-Sevier settleSt. George Temple, a symbol of Mormon pioneer skill and sacrifice. USHS collections. * nu iJiU • • * L, %*<- f0"- ^*""* *yj ! ! ! M |
