Pg. 24 The Settling of Peterson. In the year 1855 Charles S. Peterson, with his family and son-in-law, Mr. Roswell Steven, settled in the north west part of the valley. He brought up a herd of church cattle to take care of during the summer. Before coming here he was president of a branch at mountainville, now Alpine, Utah Co. He had lived at Nauvoo at the time of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. They were the first white people in that part of the valley. A daughter of Mr. Stevens, was born there in Dec. 1955, and was the first white child born in Morgan County. The little colony succeeded in establishing a town which was known as Weber City. The name was afterwards changed to Peterson, in honor of the original settler. Mr. Peterson’s home was where Alberto Whitear’s residence now (1830) is. These people seemed to be well adapted to pioneering in those primitive times, when the necessities of life had to be supplied at the enormous Pg. 25 cost of freighting goods a thousand miles in wagons or be produced from the elements by home enterprise and industry. In 1856 this colony attempted to raise grain but it was destroyed by grasshoppers. This so reduced their provisions that they were without bread for three months. And some of the time subsisted by digging wild roots. In October, 1863, Mr. Peterson was set apart as Presiding Elder over the settlements in the northern part of the valley. The first Post Office in the County was established at Weber City with Mr. Peterson as Post Master. Before the trans-continental railroad reached Utah the mails were handled by means of an overland stage, or “Pony Express.” It often happened that months would elapse, especially during the winter time, between the arrival of mails. But the people had to be satisfied with this service. In 1861 sex men came to that part of the valley and took up squatter’s rights. They were: Charles Boyden, James Carrigan, John Croft, Benjaman Hibbard, Joshua Williams and James Bond.