Utah's Dixie

Dixie is a nickname for a region in southwest Utah, especially south-central Washington County. The area is in the northeastern Mojave Desert, south of Black Ridge and west of the Hurricane Cliffs. Its winters are significantly milder than the rest of Utah.

The region is nicknamed "Dixie" after the original Dixie region (Southeastern United States), due to the warmer climate, the importance of cotton, and the Southern origins of some early settlers. Use of the term "Dixie" to describe this Utah region has been controversial due to associations with the American Civil War, the Confederate States, and slavery.

Originally inhabited by Southern Paiutes, the area became part of the United States after the Mexican–American War, in the subsequent Mexican Cession of 1849 of lands in the Old Southwest. The following year, portions of it were organized by the United States Congress and approved by the U.S. president as the new federal Utah Territory. In 1854, Mormons (LDS Church) moved to the area from the Great Salt Lake region to establish church president and territorial governor Brigham Young's intended Indian mission in the region. After arrival, the settlers led by Jacob Hamblin in Santa Clara, began growing cotton and other temperate cash crops in and around the town. By 1860, the Paiute native population had declined due to disease and gradual displacement by the new white settlers.