Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by Mormon pioneers who were seeking to escape persecution they had experienced while living farther east. Immigration of international members of the LDS Church, mining booms, and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad initially brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed the Crossroads of the West.

Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state. One of the conditions for granting Utah statehood was that a ban on polygamy be written into the state constitution. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896.

Utah's nickname is "The Beehive State", due to its original title of "Deseret", meaning honeybee in the Book of Mormon.

Utah designated the California gull (Larus californicus) as official state bird in 1955 in commemoration of the "miracle of the gulls". In 1848, the pioneers were tending to their first full harvest since arriving in Utah, when swarms of Rocky Mountain crickets started devouring the crops. Miraculously, California gulls swooped in and ate the crickets, saving the crops, as well as the pioneers.

Pando (Latin for "I spread"), also known as the trembling giant, is a clonal colony made up of 47,000 genetically identical quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) that share a single root system. Pando is estimated to be several thousand years old, making it one of the oldest known living organisms.

The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere. Although it has been called "America's Dead Sea", the lake provides a habitat for millions of native birds, brine shrimp, shorebirds, and waterfowl, including the largest staging population of Wilson's phalarope in the world.

The world's largest fishing fly is located in Dutch John, Utah. It weighs three tons and is over 32 feet long. It was designed to replicate the popular fishing fly known as a "Royal Wulff", created by fly-tying legend Lee Wulff.

Robert LeRoy Parker was born on April 13, 1866 in Beaver, Utah Territory. Parker fled his home as a teenager, and after a brief apprenticeship with a butcher in Rock Springs, took the name Butch Cassidy. His life and death have been immortalized in film and television, and he remains one of the most well-known icons of the Wild West.

Brigham Young was the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877. Sometimes called the "American Moses", he founded Salt Lake City and served as the first governor of the Utah Territory.

Locals refer to Kanab as "Little Hollywood" due to its history as a filming location for many movies and television series, including Stagecoach (1939), The Lone Ranger (1949-57), Gunsmoke (1955-75), Daniel Boone (1964-70), Planet of the Apes (1968), and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).