Payson, Utah County, is located about sixty miles south of Salt Lake City and nestles against the foothills of the southern Wasatch Range. It was colonized by a group of sixteen Mormon pioneers who settled near Peteetneet Creek in October 1850. They included James Pace, Andrew Jackson Stewart, John Courtland Searle, and their families. The settlement, which had been known as Peteetneet Creek, was renamed Payson in 1851 after James Pace. Payson was incorporated as a city on 21 January 1853. The settlement at that time included Spring Lake Villa to the south and Summit (Santaquin) to the southwest.

There were two major breaches of the peace between the native Ute Indians and the settlers during the early years. In July 1853 what became known as the Walker War began when an Indian shot and killed a guard outside of the fort at Payson. Skirmishes and encounters between the factions continued until May 1854 when a treaty of peace was entered into with Chief Wakara. Ten years of comparative peace followed. In June 1865 a treaty was established which stipulated that the Utes would be relocated on a reservation that had been established in Uintah County in eastern Utah. Chief Black Hawk and his followers were not willing to move and remained in Sanpete County. Conflict resulted and the ensuing Black Hawk War lasted for two years until a peace treaty was negotiated.