Issue 46.12
Part 1
The question is asked by nearly all citizens and visitors alike; “How did St. George get its name?”
This question has been posed and the answer given both by voice and in print. The city was named for George A. Smith, counselor to Brigham Young. However, the fact that the city was named for Smith has not been a well recorded historical notion, and only during recent decades has the naming been attributed soundly to George A. Smith. However, very few individuals have considered a “lost in the record” happening.
There are several cities which bear the names of apostles and Church leaders in Utah. Examples are: Heber City, Brigham City, Hyrum, Joseph, Kaysville, and Wellsville, just to mention a few.
But other religious cultures seem more prone to use the prefix of “St.” or “Saint” before the leader’s name. That issue should be reconsidered however. Cities in Nevada bear such names and it must be remembered that they were settled while the borders of the Territory of Utah included almost the entirety of some states as well as portions of others. Cities that use the prefix are St. Thomas, and St. Joseph in Nevada. Likewise are the settlements of St. Charles in Idaho and St. David in Arizona. These were settled under the direction of Brigham Young. So it isn’t unique to name a settlement commissioned by Brigham Young with the prefix of “St.” But the reason of “WHY” is the issue at hand. Why did Brigham Young give that name to this proposed location for a settlement? It is noted by some that George A. was a counselor to
Brigham Young and therefore his name was used because of friendship. George A. was also called “The father of the Southern Utah Mission.” However, he never lived in a Southern Utah settlement other than in Parowan, in Iron County. George A. was dubbed the “potato saint” because he shared potatoes, which he grew, with those of his company he led. They were suffering from scurvy and malnutrition. This was while in Iowa during 1848. That was long before St. George was named and there were many chances to have used his name before 1861.
These theories must be considered while bringing onto the scene a little known historical event that had to bear heavily on the reasoning of Brigham Young as he chose the name for the new settlement of St. George, even before the assignment was given to the settlers.
Most accounts list the story of George A. Smith being called the “Potato Saint” as the reason for the naming of the city. This reason is even listed in Wikipediain the Internet if one does a Google search. However, this great individual, George A. Smith, being given the nickname of the “potato saint” does NOT apply to this colony. In fact, George has a lot more to do with Parowan than he does with St. George. He was one of the original colonizers and leaders of Parowan. He and others were sent to Parowan in January of 1851.He was subsequently elected as “Chief Justice” of that community and then months later was elected to the first Utah legislature in 1851,representing Iron County. He held that position for that county in the legislature through 1856.
There is another theory that St. George was named after Phillip St. George Cooke of the U.S. Army who led the Mormon Battalion, and later led part of Johnston’s Army into an abandoned Salt Lake City in the summer of 1858. Cooke was generally very kind to the Mormons and spoke favorably of them after the Mormon Battalion. He was acquainted with Brigham Young, and it is said he removed his hat in honor of them when he marched through the streets of Salt Lake City a peaceful resolution to “The Utah War.”