Utah has 5 native American tribes: Ute, Paiute, Goshute, Shoshone, and Navajo. Click on the name of the tribe to read more about each. The Utes, Paiutes, Goshutes, and Shoshone people speak similar languages from a family known as the Numic Language Family. Navajos speak a language that is in the Athapaskan Language Family.

These groups are now headquartered on reservations in Utah, Colorado, Nevada, and Idaho, although prior to the coming of non-Indian settlers, they had no boundaries or land ownership. Bands might range all across the Great Basin, Rocky Mountain region, or Colorado Plateau.

Today, most tribe members value their cultural heritage, and each tribe is working to keep its unique culture alive.

The Mountain Man played an important part in the history of the American frontier. The era of the Mountain Man/Trapper lasted about 40 years from 1820 - 1840. They made many contributions to history by exploring the entire western part of the United States. They discovered easier ways to get through the mountains, made maps, kept journals, and served as guides and scouts for pioneers, the army, and the government. Rendezvous were gatherings held each summer where mountain men would meet with fur traders to trade their furs for supplies. The trappers would trade their furs for the "possibles" needed for the coming fur season. "Possibles" were such things as Galena lead for rifle balls, black powder, traps, "rendezvous whisky," coffee, sugar, pemmican, jerky, clothing, blankets, horses and mules and other items that allowed them to live through the coming winter.

The life of a trapper was tough, lonely, and dangerous. The rendezvous gave these mountain men an opportunity to come together to swap stories of the year behind them; test their skills against each other, brawl, drink, and resupply for the coming year.

The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were driven from three states for their religious convictions. After the death of Joseph Smith, their prophet, in 1844, about 70,000 members made their way across the plain to settle in the Salt Lake Valley. They built cities where before there had been no white settlers and the only people living in the area were the Native Americans. The church has played a prominent role in Utah culture and a high percentage of Utahans still belong to this church today.