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Paria was a town in southern Utah, not too far from Kanab. You can visit the town site by driving out into the rugged desert on an unpaved road.
History of Paria
The town was settled in 1865 by a group of Mormons led by Peter Shirts and was originally named Rockhouse. It was quite prosperous in the beginning, with farmers producing good crops every year, but irrigation was difficult with water absorbing into the soil quickly.
In 1870, the residents decided to move the settlement. Half moved upstream about 5 miles and founded Pahreah. It grew to 47 families by the mid-1870s and a church and general store were built. In 1883, however, everything changed as devastating annual floods began to hit the area. By 1892, there were only 8 families left. Despite this, a post office was granted that year under the name Paria.
The settlement stayed relatively quiet until 1912, when Charles H. Spencer opened a small gold mining operation nearby. It was unsuccessful, and flooding drove out the miners and more families the same year. The post office closed in 1915, and by the early 1930s, everyone was gone.
In 1943, the first Western was shot in Paria, Buffalo Bill, and the former town site became popular with movie and TV producers in the 1950s. A movie set for the Rat Pack’s Seargents 3 was built in 1961 about a mile west of the townsite. It was popular with tourists until it was destroyed in a fire set by vandals on August 25, 2006. The Outlaw Josey Wales, starring Clint Eastwood, was also filmed in Paria in 1975
Our Visit to the Town Site
On our way to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, we drove up to the old movie site at Paria. There’s nothing left but a few interpretive panels with photos and information about the town.
The actual town site is about a mile to the north. We tried to get there but the road was washed out and impassable for my car. A 4×4 could have done it. Anyway, there’s nothing left to see but a couple of foundations and a cemetery.
As we drove back to US-89, we admired the gorgeous scenery but could also appreciate how difficult life must have been for settlers living in these harsh conditions.
