The magnificent Kolob Canyons are revealed from near the Kolob Canyons Viewpoint. Carved into the Kolob Plateau over thousands of year by tributaries of the Virgin River, this series of Finger Canyons stretches out towards the western park border. About 2,000 years ago, Ancestral Puebloans (once known as the Virgin Anasazi) lived in the valley here, growing corn and squash with water from the river and its contributing streams. They also hunted (and gathered plants) upon the Kolob Plateau. The name of the plateau is not an Indian word; it is a term provided by Mormon Pioneers of the 1860s, meaning “the star closest to the throne of God.” The Mormons founded various towns, including Springdale, which unlike some of the towns, remains (and flourishes) to this day.     220 220 2 84