Responding to a call from Brigham Young, Orange Seeley organized groups in Sanpete County to settle Castle Valley. Sheep and cattle men had been here earlier. In 1879 the first settlers located in Castle Dale, building their first dugouts under a large cottonwood tree ninety-eight rods south and twelve rods east of the site. Among the first men to bring their families were Niels P. Miller, J. Wellington Seeley, and Jasper Peterson, who on October 7, 1879, became the first bishop of the Latter Day Saint ward of Castle Dale.