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On October 26, 1862, Col. Edward P. Connor and the 3rd California Volunteers set up Camp Douglas for the purpose of protecting the overland mail and telegraph routes between Nevada and Wyoming. This began a long history of a U.S. military presence in the Salt Lake Valley Mormon community. Although the camp closed on October 26, 1991, the U.S. military still has a presence today on the east bench of Salt Lake City known as Fort Douglas. The base as it was during its heyday of the 38th Infantry is gone, but the parade ground and Gothic sandstone homes of Officers Circle, shaded by trees planted long ago, still remain at Fort Douglas. The horses have disappeared and the "old soldiers have faded away," but the stable and red-brick barracks also remain. A few old-timers still enjoy a stroll around the parade ground, listening for the canyon breeze ruffling through the trees that echo faintly the calls of yesteryear.

The city of Peoria, Arizona, located 14 miles northwest of Phoenix, was founded in 1886 near the eastern bank of New River by settlers from Peoria, Illinois. The pioneers used the Arizona Canal to irrigate the surrounding dry desert, turning the town into a farming community. Peoria became a stop along the Santa Fe, Prescott, and Phoenix Railroad in 1895 and boasted its own train station and landmark water tower. A small commercial section developed nearby. Peoria was the last, full-service stop on the way out of the Salt River Valley along U.S. Highway 60 (Grand Avenue) before Wickenburg, 40 miles to the northwest. The town began to take shape as a suburb of Phoenix in the latter half of the 20th century, growing from 600 people in 1920 to over 151,000 in 2007. The city continues to expand by population and land annexation. It now includes the popular recreation area Lake Pleasant and extends into a small portion of Yavapai County.

Early travelers coming up the Cowlitz River saw a large rock formation next to the river, which they named Castle Rock. It was here, nestled between the Willapa Hills and the Cascade Mountains, that William and Eliza Huntington made their homestead in 1852. Theirs and several other early land grants make up what is now the site of Castle Rock, as well as nearby homes and farms. Descendants of many early pioneer families continue to live in Castle Rock, including Pyle, Jackson, Merrill, Dougherty, Whittle, Studebaker, and others. The town and its people have survived a series of natural disasters in the 20th century, including floods, an earthquake, a Pacific hurricane, and the eruption of Mount St. Helens, each time picking up the pieces of their lives and rebuilding. With the virtual collapse of the timber industry, Castle Rock is now beginning to find its identity and ability to prosper in the 21st century.

Wildomar is a semirural community located in an inland valley of Riverside County, about 60 miles northwest of San Diego. In 1886, the three founders of the town site cleverly coined its unique name from a combination of their own first names--WILliam Collier, DOnald Graham, and MARgaret Collier Graham. The community began to grow when settlers traveled by road and railroad into the area to farm the land and raise their families. Today Wildomar is a community of nearly 28,000 people. An independence movement ultimately led to an application for cityhood, and on July 1, 2008, amidst fireworks and music, the city of Wildomar was officially born.