Daggett County is located in the extreme northeastern corner of Utah. Humans are believed to have lived in the area for at least ten millennia. Shoshonean and Ute Peoples predated the Europeans, but the Fremont Culture predated even them and was preceded in turn by other cultures, probably all the way back to the folks who were chasing the megafauna at the end of the last ice age.
The first Europeans to visit are believed to have been the fur trappers of the early nineteenth century, including men like William Henry Ashley, Jedediah Smith, Peter Ogden and Hugh Glass. In 1837, Phillip Thompson and William Craig built Fort Davy Crockett, also known as Fort Misery, in Brown's Park, also known as Brown's Hole. (Crocket had died at the Alamo the year before.) Kit Carson is known to have hunted here in the 1830s for game to supply the fort. Brown's Park is famous in local lore as the locale for some nasty fighting between sheep herders and cattlemen as well as a hideout for outlaws, including the likes of Butch Cassidy and the Bassett sisters. Brown's Park ranks right up there with Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming and Robber's Roost, Utah as the most famous nineteenth century outlaw hideouts. Major John Wesley Powell explored the Green River in 1869 and again in 1871. He was the one who first named Flaming Gorge.
Daggett County was cut out of Uintah County in 1918 and was named for Ellworth Daggett, who is credited with having pioneered irrigation in the county. In 1964, Flaming Gorge Dam was built on the Green River. Today, it is a major source of electricity for the region. The county seat is also the county's only incorporated municipality - Manila. The 2010 census counted 1,059 residents in the entire county. Power generation, lumber and ranching are the principal economic activities. The principal point of interest in Daggett County for most visitors is Flaming Gorge which is a favorite destination for boating and fishing enthusiasts.
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