Star Valley was inhabited mainly by Shoshone Indians in the summer and fall months until the early 19th century. The natives were drawn to the valley for its abundant game and the pure salt deposits found near the present town of Auburn and also to the south of Afton, Wyoming.
American explorers are known to have traveled through the area as early as 1812, seeking new routes to the West Coast. Canadian and American trappers followed, frequenting the area through the 1840s. The 1850s and 1860s saw many emigrants passing through the upper Star Valley area via the Lander Road on the Oregon Trail. White settlement of the area did not begin in earnest, though, until the late 1870s when LDS ApostlesMoses Thatcher and Brigham Young, Jr. chose the valley for colonization. Archibald Gardner and members of his extended family arrived in 1889, building and operating five mills of various types in the valley.
On October 1, 2011, Thomas S. Monson, president of the LDS Church, announced in General Conference that the Star Valley Wyoming Temple would be built in the valley. The location was announced on May 25, 2012, to be just east of U.S. Highway 89 on the Haderlie Farm property just south of Afton.[2] The temple was completed and dedicated on October 30, 2016, by LDS Apostle David A. Bednar, the 154th dedicated temple in operation.[3]
