The company was organized in 1867 to direct operation of the recently completed Deseret Telegraph Line; its largest stakeholder was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Deseret line ran north and south through the Utah Territory, connecting the numerous settlements with Salt Lake City and the First Transcontinental Telegraph.

[2] Utah's Mormon settlers—members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS Church—had supplied labor, food, and transportation for the line, along with poles for about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of its length.

In February 1861, Brigham Young expressed his desire for a local territorial line, and a telegraphy school was established in Salt Lake City.

The letter included instructions that each settlement would be responsible for constructing the segment of the line near their community, and laid out steps that needed to be completed immediately.

[11] Later the line was extended north to Paris, Idaho, and south to Pipe Springs, Arizona, with extensions into the Sanpete and Sevier Valleys, Tooele, Gunnison, Kanab, and several mining districts, such as Tintic and Frisco in Utah, along with Bullionville and Panaca in Nevada.