When the Mormon pioneers first came to the Salt Lake Valley, the river west of the city was called the Western Jordan, and all the area south of Big Cottonwood Creek was known as West Jordan. Thomas Butterfield, Samuel Egbert, and others were among those who settled here in October 1849. They spent the winter in dugouts, or man-made caves dug out of the hillside, for protection from the harsh winter weather. A remnant is visible in the hillside about 300 yards down the canal, midway between the top of the hill and the canal. Other settlers were scattered in similar settings up and down the river bank for a distance of seven miles. West Jordan incorporated as a town in 1941 and advanced to city status in 1967. It remained a rural community until the 1970's, and rapid residential and industrial growth since then made West Jordan Utah’s seventh largest city.