Short Creek was a place on the Arizona–Utah border long before it became a ranching town. The notes below follow the Town of Colorado City and the Washington County Historical Society. Where those accounts differ on a date, both are given.

Maxwell ranch, about 1860

The Town of Colorado City identifies William B. Maxwell as the first known settler in the Short Creek valley. He built a ranch house there, and Maxwell Canyon takes his name. The Washington County Historical Society dates that ranch to 1860 and describes it as a stopping place until Maxwell moved his families to Mexico.

The Berry killings, 2 April 1866

On 2 April 1866, Robert Berry, his wife Isabelle, and his brother Joseph were killed by Indians at Short Creek near a landmark later called Berry Knoll, according to the Town of Colorado City. The same account notes that Short Creek had been a stopping point for travelers since the mid-1800s.

Lauritzen, Rust, and the years just before 1913

Jacob M. Lauritzen and Will Rust came to Short Creek around 1908 to develop water from the canyons, according to the Town of Colorado City, and moved their families there in 1912. Around the same time, Orlin F. Colvin and Isaac Carling began homesteading. The Washington County Historical Society dates the Lauritzen family’s move from Richfield, Utah, to 1911. By December 1912, a letter from J. A. M. Lauritzen published in the Washington County News describes his family already occupying a small house at Short Creek.

The year pages on this site begin at 1913, the year usually given for Short Creek as a ranching settlement. Open 1913.