The Anasazi people first lived in Zion about 1,500 years ago. The Anasazi lived in rock dwellings under the cliffs. They grew and stored crops, developed beautiful painted pottery, and left several types of rock art on the cliff faces. The Anasazi seem to have left the Zion area about 800 years ago. There are many Anasazi Ruins and Petroglyph panels in and around Zion. Inquire at the Visitors Center if you want to visit these ruins.
The next Native Americans who lived in Zion were the Paiutes. The Paiutes were hunter, gatherer, and farmers, who developed irrigation ditch's to their fields. The Paiutes of Zion, and the Mojave Desert of Nevada, were instrumental in the crossing of the west by Jedediah Smith, A fur trapper, who passed through here in 1826, looking for a way across the desert to Los Angeles, California. They provided him and his party with food, water, and directions on how to procede west. The directions that they gave him were so good, that they are still used today, in the form of Interstate 15.
The first Europeans to explore the region were two Spanish priests named Dominguez and Escalante. Their exploration party passed near Zion in 1778. Escalante was later to have one of Utah's most rugged and beautiful areas named after him. Mormon pioneers began to settle in Southern Utah in the 1850's.
By an act of Congress in 1919, Zion became a National Park. A second, Zion National Monument (now called the Kolob Canyons) was established in 1937. In 1956, Kolob Canyons were added to Zion National Park. Today, Zion contains about 147,000 acres of land.
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