Sanpete County, Utah

Sanpete County contains 1,588 square miles of land and 15 square miles of water in the center of Utah. The county seat is Manti, the largest city Ephraim.

Sanpete was most likely the name of a well-known and highly respected Paiute chief, although some folks say the name was spelled "Sanpitch."

The first settlers arrived after a couple of local Ute chiefs went to Salt Lake City and requested that Brigham Young send some settlers their way. The church leader sent a group to check out the valley and their report was favorable, so he sent 50 families into the area: 224 men, women and children led by Isaac Morley, Seth Taft and Charles Shumway. They arrived on November 19, 1849 and established their first settlement at what is now Manti. Over the years they were joined by more Mormon immigrants from the Scandinavian countries.

Today, Sanpete County is still mostly rural and the major industries in the area are agricultural. The northern part of the county is home to the Moroni Feed Company, a large domestic turkey producing and processing cooperative. The southern part of the country raises a lot of alfalfa, hay and other animal feed crops.