Old La Sal, located twelve miles east of present-day La Sal, was first settled in 1877 during the post-Civil War period by Mr. and Mrs. Tom Ray and their eight children. Because of frequent flooding, the old La Sal site was abandoned in 1930 and present-day La Sal was settled on U-46, southeast of Moab. The name means "salt" and was taken from the name of the nearby La Sal Mountains, The town of La Sal had an early name of Coyote.

John W. van Cott