One of the earliest
descriptions of the Kamas Valley was given in the report written in
1849 by Captain Howard Stansbury of the United States Army Corps of
Topographical Engineers. He wrote: "It may be remarked here that the
Camass Prairie consists of most excellent land and can be irrigated
over its whole extent with comparatively little labor. Water for stock
is abundant and timber for ordinary farming is plentiful and convenient."
The word "Kamas"
was derived from an Indian word for a bulbous plant that was a staple
of the diet of Native Americans in the area. The word was also said
to describe a small grassy plain among the hills, an appropriate portrait
of the Kamas Valley.
Kamas is located
about eighteen miles east of Park City and about forty-six miles southeast
of Salt Lake City in a valley surrounded by the Uinta Mountains to the
east, the Wasatch Mountains to the west, the Provo River on the south,
and the Weber River to the north. Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Weber,
traverses the center of the valley.