Abstract

This thesis is a study of the mechanisms employed in the community building process of Hurricane, Utah. It traces the roots of the town's early settlers beginning with their arrival in southern Utah in the early 1860s through the founding of Hurricane and the establishment of its social order. This pioneering period largely ended by 1930.
Hurricane's founders were the remnants of the Mormon Church's failed Cotton Mission. Original U.S. census research shows that by 1900 close to half of the mission's colonizers abandoned the challenging desert of southern Utah. The stalwarts who remained fashioned the Hurricane Canal with the expectation of economic betterment and a new life on the Hurricane Bench.
Using ingrained Mormon egalitarian principles the Hurricane Canal Company proved the driving force behind Hurricane's genesis. Company leaders became the new town's leaders and cooperated extensively in the various organizations they headed. They formed a core authority group that created stability and provided public utilities and services for Hurricane denizens. In the end Hurricane produced the chance for economic improvement its pioneers hoped it would.

Degree

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; History

Rights

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