Paris History
Paris became the premier settlement of the Bear Lake Valley when the first of the Mormon settlers arrived in the fall of 1863. Apostle Charles C Rich had been commissioned to explore the valley and determine its suitability for settlement. After his report, the first group was soon underway for the are. They came over the hill from Franklin on September 22, 1863, arriving seven days later at the site that became Paris.
In the first group were: John Poole, Charles and Ann Adkins, Cass Whittle, William Harris, Lewis Ricks, Thomas Sleight, Thomas Mantle, John Bright, Ebenezer Landers, J Bowman, Allan Allen and Manson Fiefield. By winter there were 118 persons in the new community. Twenty cabins were built. During the spring of 1864 an additional 700 people arrived and scattered from Paris to other areas. In the fall of 1864 Charles C Rich brought Frederick T Perris, a civil engineer to do the first official surveying in the valley. Prior to that time an official name had not been selected for the settlement. In honor of the surveyor, the name was Perris but was corrupted to be spelled as Paris.
Paris became the headquarters for all other communities and it was from there that all church decrees and regulations came. The control of the community reached as far south as Woodruff, Randolph and Laketown, Utah and spread as far east as Star Valley.