Utah Code § 57-6-5

When any person has settled upon any real estate and occupied the same for three years under or by virtue of any law or contract with the proper officers of the state for the purchase thereof, or under any law of, or by virtue of any purchase from, the United States, and shall have made valuable improvements thereon, and shall be found not to be the owner thereof, or not to have acquired a right to purchase the same from the state or the United States, such person shall be an occupying claimant within the meaning of this chapter.