Virgin, Utah
November 24, 2020
Virgin is a town in Washington County, Utah. The population was 596 at the 2010 census. [insert joke here.]. The first settlement at Virgin was made in 1858. It is located along the Virgin River (for which it is named), and not far from Zion National Park. The elevation is 3,606 feet. It lies on State Route 9.
In May 2000, a law was passed which required every homeowner to keep and maintain a firearm. This was highlighted in Michael Moore's 2002 film Bowling for Columbine. Exceptions to this law include "the mentally ill, convicted felons, conscientious objectors and people who cannot afford to own a gun".
Now, for the Virgin River....
The Virgin River is a a tributary of the Colorado River in Utah, Nevada and Arizona. The river is about 162 miles long. It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial celebration of Zion National Park.
The river is named for Thomas Virgin, a member of the first American party to see it, led by Jedediah Smith in 1826. Smith named it "Adams River", after then-president John Quincy Adams, but later explorer and mapmaker John C. Fremontgave it its current name. After the Smith party successfully descended the river on the way to California, Thomas Virgin was badly wounded in an attack by Mohave people during the crossing of the Mojave Desert. Virgin recovered from his wounds but was later killed, along with most of Smith's companions, in an attack by Umpqua people (in present-day Oregon).
The Old Spanish Trail followed the Virgin River for part of its length from near St. George to the point it ascended the Mormon Plateau to cross to the Muddy River in present-day Nevada.
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