The southern half of Bear Lake and the Bear Lake Valley lies on the northern edge of the county. The Bear River Valley lies in most of the eastern portion of the county. The elevation of these valleys is close to 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and the rest of the county is covered by mountains, including the Bear River Range.[citation needed] Because of the high elevation, the climate is cold in winter and mild in summer, and the population is limited.
History
Various Native American peoples inhabited the Rich County region for thousands of years. A prehistoric bison jump is located near the city of Woodruff, Utah[4]
Like all of modern-day Utah, Rich County was claimed by the Spanish Empire from the 1500s as part of Alta California, and later was part of Mexico. However, neither the Spanish nor Mexicans had a major or permanent presence in the area. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo placed the region under control of the United States.
Rich County was believed to have first been visited by European-descended explorers in 1811, when trapper Joseph Miller discovered the Bear River. In 1827, the first annual rendezvous of trappers occurred on the south shore of Bear Lake, a tradition that is still marked today. The site is also preserved as part of Bear Lake State Park. The Oregon Trail, a heavily traveled route to the Northwest Territories, passed through the upper part of the future county (as defined by its original description).[5] Many emigrants traveling to the NW Territories also traveled around the south end of Bear Lake instead of hewing to the more heavily traveled route through present-day Idaho, although this adds to the Oregon Trail is usually not shown on maps of the route.[6]
The Utah Territory had been initially settled by Mormon pioneers beginning in 1847, but no Mormons permanently moved into the Rich County area until after 1862. The US Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862, opening this area to settlement. Mormon leader Brigham Young, fearing this would lead to an influx of non-Mormons, called members of his flock to move to the area and begin its settlement. The first settlement within the county's present boundary was Round Valley in 1863; located southwest of Laketown (settled 1864), it is now a ghost town. Randolph was settled in 1870. Originally created as Richland County on January 16, 1864, the name was shortened to Rich on January 29, 1868, by the 17th Utah Territorial Legislature. The boundary as originally defined extended beyond Utah into southwestern Wyoming and southeast Idaho. However, on July 25, 1868, the Wyoming Territory was created by the federal government, and all of the Rich County area east of the 34th meridian west from Washington became part of the new territory and thus was lost to Rich.[7] The 1870 census for Rich County, Utah Territory enumerates a total of 1,672 residents in the eight Idaho communities of Bennington, Bloomington, Fish Haven, Liberty, Montpelier, Ovid, Paris and St. Charles.[8] Utah Territory adjusted the county's boundary on February 16, 1872, by moving a small portion previous Summit County into Rich. The final adjustment to county boundaries was made on January 5, 1875, when Idaho Territory took the eight aforementioned communities and others in the Bear Lake Valley to form Bear Lake County.[9]
The present county building was constructed in Randolph in 1940.[6]
Geography
Rich County lies in the upper northeastern corner of Utah. Its northern border abuts the south border of the state of Idaho, and its east border abuts the west border of the state of Wyoming. The Bear River flows eastward out of the middle part of the county into Wyoming. The terrain is rugged, with less than ten percent of the area under cultivation. Over half of the county's area is used for cattle grazing.[6][10] The county terrain slopes from the Bear River Mountain crests which form its western border, toward the east. The highest point is along its northern border known as Bridger Peak, at 9,255 ft (2,821 m) ASL.[11] The county has a total area of 1,086 square miles (2,810 km2), of which 1,029 square miles (2,670 km2) is land and 58 square miles (150 km2) (5.3%) is water.[12]
The Bear River Valley is created by the Bear River and consists of the east-central portion of the county. The towns of Randolph and Woodruff lie in this farming-oriented valley. Its high elevation makes this region one of the coldest areas in the state. Woodruff has a record low of −50 °F (−46 °C) and temperatures rarely exceed 90 °F (32 °C) during the summer. Snow is heavy in late autumn, winter, and early spring and remains on the ground for the entire winter.
Further to the north lies the southern half of Bear Lake Valley, which contains Bear Lake. This lake is famous for its deep blue water, beaches, and surrounding mountains. The Bear River Mountains lies along the western edge of the county, and Logan Canyon opens up to the west of Garden City, which is a quaint tourist town that lies on the western edge of Bear Lake. Laketown lies at the southern edge of the lake. Three sections of the coastline are protected by Bear Lake State Park. The eastern slopes of the Bear River Range are an increasingly popular location for cabins.
In both major valleys, temperature inversions are a major problem during winter. These temperature inversions can bring extremely cold temperatures, fog, smog, and haze to the valleys, lasting for weeks at a time.
Major highways
U.S. Route 89 descends from the Bear River Mountains through Logan Canyon and turns north at Garden City along the Bear Lake shoreline.
State Route 30 heads south from Garden City through Laketown and climbs east through the mountains to the Wyoming border.
State Route 39 heads west into the Wasatch Range from Woodruff on its way to Huntsville and eventually Ogden. However, this highway is closed through the mountains during the winter months as heavy snow blocks the road.
Interstate 80 lies in Summit County near the Rich County border but is only accessible from Rich County through Wyoming.
There were 1,309 (52.15%) males and 1,201 (47.85%) females, and the population distribution by age was 767 (30.6%) under the age of 18, 1,276 (50.8%) from 18 to 64, and 467 (18.6%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 38.0 years.
There were 886 households in Rich County with an average size of 2.83 of which 660 (74.5%) were families and 226 (25.5%) were non-families. Among all families, 577 (65.1%) were married couples, 32 (3.6%) were male householders with no spouse, and 51 (5.8%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 207 (23.4%) were a single person living alone and 19 (2.1%) were two or more people living together. 322 (36.3%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 710 (80.1%) of households were owner-occupied while 176 (19.9%) were renter-occupied.
The median income for a Rich County household was $63,917 and the median family income was $73,819, with a per-capita income of $23,943. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $58,125 and for females $35,590. 10.5% of the population and 6.5% of families were below the poverty line.
