History:

Wayne County lies entirely within the colorful Colorado Plateau geographical province and includes portions of Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks. The Fremont River flows south into the county from Fish Lake and then east to join the Dirty Devil, a tributary of the Green River. The Green marks the county's eastern border.

Located in southeastern Utah, Wayne County is rectangular in shape. It is roughly 23 miles wide running north and south and 105 miles long running east and west, and contains 2,475 miles, with 97% belonging to Federal and State Governments. There are about 2,400 people living in the county.

The western part of the county is a broken up plateau called the Awapa Plateau. It slopes to the east from the Parker Mountain Divide for a distance of 12-15 miles, from an elevation of about 10,000 ft. - 7,999 ft. into the valley encompassing the towns of Fremont, Loa, Lyman, and Bicknell. South and east of these towns are two high up-lifted mountains divided by the Fremont River. The one on the north is Thousand Lake Mountain, and on the south is the Boulder Mountain (or Aquarius Plateau); one of the largest and highest plateaus in the U.S. Both of these mountains have horizontal lava capping and are over 11,000 ft. high with many small lakes providing excellent fishing. You can also find excellent hunting for deer, elk, antelope, turkey, duck, pheasant, chukkers and other wild game. The general area provides grazing for livestock during the summer months. Southeast of the town of Bicknell is a wet, marshy area known as the Bicknell Bottoms, an excellent wildlife habitat, and housing the largest fish egg hatchery in the state.

Scientists have identified the remains of extinct Pleistocene species such as the sloth, horse, mammoth, bison, and camel in Wayne County and dated Archaic and Fremont Indian sites (Cowboy Caves) to between 6300 B.C. and 450 A.D. Horseshoe (Barrier) Canyon and the Maze section of Canyonlands in eastern Wayne contain spectacular pictographs. In historic times the county was part of the Ute Indians' domain.

Wayne was created in May 1892 from Piute County. Most of its towns were settled after 1880 because of the remote location and limited resources. A delegate to the constitutional convention gave it the name of Wayne County in honor of his son who was dragged to death by a horse. Raising livestock is the oldest and most important industry. Beef cattle produce the most income, but dairy cows, sheep, and poultry have all contributed to the local economy in the past. Getting cattle to market was difficult. Until good roads were built in the 1930s stock was driven some 100 miles north to the railroad at Nephi and later to a Denver & Rio Grande branch line in Sevier County. The creation of national forests in the early 20th century reduced the number of cattle that could be grazed in western Wayne County.