Sanpete County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. The population according to the 2010 U.S. Census was 27,822. It was possibly named for a Ute Indian chief named Sanpitch, which was corrupted to Sanpete. Its county seat is Manti and its largest city is Ephraim.

History

On 14 June 1849, Ute chiefs Walkara and Sowiette went to the Salt Lake Valley to ask Mormon leader Brigham Young to settle a group of his people in the valley of Sanpitch, about 125 miles (201 km) to the south. Wanting to honor their request and needing to found new settlements where the quickly-growing population of Salt Lake could expand, Brigham Young sent a party to explore the area in August of that year. It was deemed favorable to settlement, and Brigham Young called Isaac Morley to organize about fifty families to move south and settle "San Pete."

The settlers arrived in the valley on 19 November 1849. They numbered 224 men, women, and children and were led by Isaac Morley, Charles Shumway, and Seth Taft. After some debate, the first settlement in the valley was established on the present site of Manti, Utah.[6] - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.