USA > Utah > History of Utah > Part 29
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A voice breaks the stillness. It is the voice of Brigham Young. Pale and wasted from his recent illness, and still reclining wearily in the light vehicle which has borne him through the mountains, the pioneer chieftain sweeps with a prescient glance the gorgeous pano- rama spread out before him,-the contrasted splendors of mountain, valley, lake and stream, glorious and glittering in the summer sun- light. Far over and beyond all these extends that inspired gaze. It sees not merely the present, but the future; not only that which is, but that which is to be, when from these barren sands shall rise, as rose proud Venice from the sea, a city fair as Adriatic's island queen, and no less wealthy, famed and powerful. It sees the burning plains to blooming gardens turn; the desert change to an oasis; the sterile valley, the reproach of Nature, which naught before had borne, teeming with varied life and yielding rich fruits and rare flowers for the sustenance and delight of man. An inanimate Sarah, a barren Rachel, transformed by the touch of God to a joyful mother of chil- dren. The curse of centuries is lifted, the fetters of ages are stricken off, and the redeemed earth, like a freed captive, looks up to heaven and smiles. Cities, towns and hamlets multiply; farms, fields,
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orchards and vineyards fill all the land. Egypt, the wilderness, are past; another Canaan appears; and here a Moses who shall smite the rock, a Joshua to sit in judgment and divide to Israel his inheritance.
Still he gazed on. Still rolled before that enraptured sight, in waves of prophetic imagery, the sunlit panorama of the future. Saw he no cloud? Yes, one. He thought upon the oppressor and he frowned, for he was human, and he remembered the past; upon the Master and His mission of mercy, and a softened look played upon the wan and wasted features. Yes, he too could forgive, as he hoped with all men to be forgiven. If the Gentile came he should be welcome, blessing should be given for cursing, and the olive branch, and not the sword, would Ephraim extend to Japheth. But he must come peaceably, give friendship for friendship, and honor the laws of the commonwealth. No stirrers-up of strife, no mobo- cracy would be tolerated. Japheth, if he desired it, should indeed "dwell in the tents of Shem," but he must dwell there in peace and in propriety, or his room would be preferable to his company.
Is it all fancy ? Did no such thoughts sweep through the mind of the Mormon leader that day-one who believed himself, as tens of thousands believed him, a divinely appointed law-giver, a Moses indeed to another and a veritable Israel ? Did no such sentiments swell his breast, as he surveyed for the first time the land, the desert land, which his directing genius and his people's united industry were destined to redeem and render immortal? Perhaps we shall see as we proceed.
"The very place." Such were his simple words, but they were words that spoke volumes. Says Wilford Woodruff, who, with Heber C. Kimball, Lorenzo D. Young and others had remained behind with the President, and now stood with him upon the narrow plateau near the mouth of Emigration Canyon: "We gazed in wonder and admiration upon the vast valley before us, with the waters of the Great Salt Lake glistening in the sun, mountains towering to the skies, and streams of pure water running through the beautiful val- ley. It was the grandest view we had ever seen till this moment.
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Pleasant thoughts ran through our minds at the prospect that not many years hence the house of God would be established in the mountains and exalted above the hills, while the valleys would be converted into orchards, vineyards and fruitful fields, cities erected to the name of the Lord, and the standard of Zion unfurled for the gathering of the nations. President Young expressed his entire sat- isfaction at the appearance of the valley as a resting place for the Saints, and felt amply repaid for his journey. While lying upon his bed in my carriage, gazing upon the scene before us, many things of the future, concerning the Valley, were shown to him in vision."
Some of the pioneers, however, weary and worn by their long pilgrimage, were far from enchanted at the prospect of remaining in such a desolate place. Their hearts sank within them at the announcement of their leader, that this was the very spot,-a spot which he claimed to have previously seen in vision, as held in reserve by the Almighty for His people .* Said Harriet Young : "Weak and weary as I am, I would rather go a thousand miles far- ther than remain in such a forsaken place as this." Ellen Kimball, her sister pioneer, felt likewise, Clara D. Young was the only one of the three who felt at all satisfied with the situation. Said she in later years: "It did not look so dreary to me as it did to the other ladies. They were terribly disappointed because there were no trees. My poor mother was almost heart-broken. I don't remember a tree that could be called a tree." Lorenzo D. Young says there was a scrub-oak or a cottonwood here and there, but that the general out- look was dreary and disheartening. And thus were opinions and impressions divided. All in all it is evident, from the concensus of these views, which might be multiplied ad libitum, that beyond the scenic glory of Salt Lake Valley, which still remains unrivalled, its inviting features at that time were more visible to the eye of faith than to the natural vision.
* Says Erastus Snow : " It was here he had seen the tent settling down from heaven and resting, and a voice said unto him, 'Here is the place where my people Israel shall pitch their tents.'"
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Continuing, Apostle Woodruff says: "After gazing awhile upon this scenery, we moved four miles across the table-land into the val- ley, to the encampment of our brethren, who had arrived two days before us. They had pitched upon the banks of two small streams of pure water, and had commenced plowing. On our arrival they had already broken five acres of land, and had begun planting pota- toes in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake."
Orson Pratt had been the first of the pioneers to tread the site of Salt Lake City. We left him and Erastus Snow on the afternoon of the 21st of July, descending the hills near Emigration Canyon, after drinking in with rapture the inspiring scene which had burst some moments before upon their view. As said, they had but one horse between them, and Erastus was now riding. The day being warm,-the temperature about 96° Fahr., -- he had taken off his coat and flung it loosely over the saddle. When about three miles from the canyon he missed his coat, and returned to look for it. Orson Pratt meanwhile walked on alone, descending from plateau to plain. After traversing a circuit of about twelve miles, the two returned to their camp in the canyon.
Erastus Snow states that after entering the valley they first directed their course toward the stream now called Mill Creek, where the tall canes along its banks "looked like inviting grain." Disap- pointed by the delusion, and remembering the President's injunction to "bear to the northward," they turned in that direction and came to the banks of City Creek. This creek then divided in twain a little above Temple Block; one branch running westward and the other southward. It was 9 or 10 o'clock p. m. when they rejoined their companions. Pratt's company, after their leader left them, had only advanced three miles down the canyon and were now encamped one- and-a-half miles above the mouth.
Next morning, the main company having arrived, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith and seven others rode into the valley to explore, leaving the others to follow them and make practicable the "nar- rows" at the mouth of the canyon. Descending into the valley about 22-VOL. 1.
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five miles, the explorers turned northward toward the Lake. "For three or four miles," says Orson Pratt, "we found the soil of a most excellent quality. Streams from the mountains and springs were very abundant, the water excellent, and generally with gravel bot- toms. A great variety of green grass, and very luxuriant, covered the bottoms for miles where the soil was sufficiently damp, but in other places, although the soil was good, the grass had nearly dried up for want of moisture. We found the drier places swarming with very large crickets, about the size of a man's thumb. This valley is surrounded by mountains, except on the north; the tops of some of the highest being covered with snow. Every one or two miles streams were emptying into it from the mountains on the east, many of which were sufficiently large to carry mills and other machinery. As we proceeded towards the Salt Lake, the soil began to assume a more sterile appearance. We found, as we pro- ceeded on, great numbers of hot springs issuing from near the base of the mountains. These springs were highly impregnated with salt and sulphur. The temperature of some was nearly raised to the boil- ing point. We traveled for about fifteen miles after coming down into the valley; the latter parts of the distance the soil being unfit for agricultural purposes."
Returning from this jaunt, which evidently took in the neigh- borhood of the Warm and Hot Springs, they found their wagons encamped in the valley, four or five miles below Emigration Canyon.
On the morning of the 23rd, after despatching messengers to meet the President and inform him of what had been seen and done, the camp removed to the south branch of City Creek, near the Eighth Ward or Washington Square, not far from where the Methodist Church and its palatial neighbor the Hotel Knutsford now stand. A meeting was there called. Orson Pratt prayed and dedicated the land and camp to the Lord, and he and Willard Richards addressed those assembled. Various committees were then appointed, and preparations at once made for putting in crops. The planting season being virtually past, no time was to be lost if they hoped to
your July Prastas hnou-
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reap any results from their labors. Within two hours from the time they arrived on City Creek, ground was broken a short distance from camp-in the very business heart of Salt Lake City-and three plows were kept going during the rest of the day. George W. Brown, William Carter and Shadrach Roundy ran the first furrows plowed by white men in Salt Lake Valley .* Owing to the extreme dryness of the soil, plowing was at first very difficult, and more than one plow- share was broken in the hard sun-baked earth. But a dam having been placed in the creek, and the surrounding soil well flooded, the work was rendered comparatively easy. At 3 o'clock p. m. the pioneer thermometer indicated 96° F. A thunder shower swept over from the west that afternoon, but scarcely enough rain fell to lay the dust. A heavier shower fell next evening.
These rains were particularly welcome and gratifying, not only on account of the prevailing heat and dryness, but from the fact that the pioneers had received the impression, in spite of Colonel Bridger's report, that such phenomena as mid-summer showers were unknown in the Great Basin. They saw many days during that and ensuing seasons, when, but for the memory of these refreshing rains, that early impression would certainly have been confirmed.
On the morning of the 24th the pioneers began planting, first putting in their potatoes. Having planted a few acres they turned the waters of the creek upon their little field and gave the soil "a
* George W. Brown, now residing at Charleston, Wasatch County, Utah, writes : " We moved camp from Emigration Creek to City Creek near where the Descret Bank now stands. A meeting was called soon after we halted. Orders were given to begin plowing. (I had turned my oxen out with their yoke on). A rush was made to begin. All eager to get started first. I succeeded in being the first one to hitch up. John S. Eldredge furnished the plow (having it all ready). I picked up my whip and both drove and held the plow and turned the first sod in Utah Territory. This occurred about 11 o'clock a. m. July 23rd, 1847."
William Carter, of St. George, Washington County, says : "July 23rd, 1847, 1 put in my plow on the south side of the Thirteenth Ward, opposite Tuft's Hotel, on the west side of the block. Levi Kendall and Bishop Taft put in their plow and broke the beam. This was close to camp and they could not plow. I plowed about half an acre before any other teams came. This took place about noon."
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good soaking." This was the beginning of their vast and successful system of irrigation-since famous throughout the civilized world- which has done so much toward redeeming the desert Basin, and niaking Utah a veritable Eden in the midst of a barren waste.
About midday, or early in the afternoon, President Young and his party arrived at the camp on City Creek. It was in his honor that July 24th-the day of his arrival-was set apart by the pioneers to commemorate their advent into the valleys of the mountains.
The day following was the Sabbath. The grateful pioneers did not forget it. Assembling at 10 a. m. in the circle of their encamp- ment, they paid their devotions to the Most High. George A. Smith was the first speaker, and he was followed by Heber C. Kimball and Ezra T. Benson. All expressed themselves as satisfied with the country to which they had come, with their present situation and future prospects. Apostle Kimball drew attention to the fact that not one human life had been lost during their long journey from the Missouri, and that they had been favored by divine providence in various ways. In the afternoon the Sacrament was administered, after which the assembly was addressed by Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt and Willard Richards; Lorenzo D. Young, John Pack and others also making a few remarks. But the sermon of the day was delivered by Apostle Orson Pratt, who took for his text Isaiah 52: 7,8:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth !
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice ; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
The Apostle proceeded to show that these inspired words, and not only these but many other predictions of the ancient seers, bore directly upon the situation of the pioneers and their people, who were now beginning to plant their feet in the midst of the Rocky Moun- tains. The prophets of old, he declared, had foreseen this very establishment of the Lord's house in the "tops of the mountains,"
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where it was "exalted above the hills," and "all nations" would yet "flow unto it."
Whether or not the Apostle's literal view be taken, there is no denying that in the light of those prophecies the situation of the pioneers was particularly striking, and that these descendants of the Pilgrims and Puritans, as ready as their New England ances- tors to recognize God's hand in their westward flight, had ample rea- son, from their standpoint, to accept, as they undoubtedly did, their Apostle's interpretation as true and genuine. Would not their feet be indeed "beautiful upon the mountains" to those who were even now awaiting the "glad tidings," soon to be sent back to them, of a home of peace and safety unto which the Lord was about to "bring Zion ? "
The President, though his feeble condition would not permit him to preach a sermon that day, added a few practical words from his arm chair, where he sat while he addressed them. "He told the brethren," says Apostle Woodruff, "that they must not work on Sunday ; that they would lose five times as much as they would gain by it. None were to hunt or fish on that day, and there should not any man dwell among us who would not observe these rules. They might go and dwell where they pleased, but should not dwell with us. He also said that no man who came here should buy any land; that he had none to sell ;* but every man should have his land measured out to him for city and farming purposes. He might till it as he pleased, but he must be industrious and take care of it."
While there exists no proof that it was the purpose of the Mor- mon leader to set up anew at that time the system of the United Order, the character of his instructions on this occasion were strik- ingly reminiscent of the past history and operations of the Saints under the great social plan introduced and partly established by their Prophet. ¡ The proposed measuring out to each member of the com- munity of that portion of land which he was required to industri-
* None of them had any title to the land at that time. It was still Mexican soil.
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ously cultivate, was in perfect keeping with the plan of the United Order, and strongly suggestive of the mission once given to Bishop Edward Partridge in Jackson County, Missouri. "He might till it as he pleased," but he must not sell it, nor work it on the Sabbath. Though each man was to have an "inheritance" as an individual possession, he was expected to hold and use it in a way not incon- sistent with the public weal; "every man seeking the interest of his neighbor and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God."
The Israelitish, or at all events ancient genius of the United Order is apparent. Nothing is plainer than that Joseph Smith's concept of a community, while subsequent in enunciation and practice to the theories of the French socialists and Robert Owen, was not inspired by modern socialism and its methods. If he had ideals, they were ancient and biblical, not modern and secular. They were Moses and Joshua, rather than Owen and Saint-Simon. Joseph and Brigham in their time were each compared to Moses, and that, too, by Gentile writers; Brigham, no doubt, because he was not only, like Joseph, a law-giver, but actually led a people, as Moses led Israel, through a wilderness to their "land of promise." But he was not one whit less a Joshua in dividing to an Israel their "inheritance." And yet, be it remembered, it was the order of Enoch, "the seventh from Adam," and not an order of Moses and Joshua, that Joseph Smith had sought to establish. The patriarchal or plural marriage system of the Saints,-now known to the Church in general, and about to be openly avowed to the world,-was also Israelitish in theory and in practice, as were their patriarchal family organizations, formed at Nauvoo and Winter Quarters, according to "the law of adoption."
Before proceeding with our narrative, let us here touch upon another point.
Brigham Young, soon after his arrival in Salt Lake Valley, is said to have remarked: "Now if they"-the Gentiles-"will let us alone for ten years, I'll ask no odds of them." Some have construed this as a covert threat against the Federal Government, signifying a
John Pack
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settled purpose on the part of the Mormon leader to set up an inde- pendent government, hostile to and even militant against the United States. Such a conclusion is wholly unwarrantable. Aside from all considerations of Mormon loyalty, so many times proven, the idea of a handful of people numbering only a few thousand souls, whose religion forbade strife and bloodshed, hurling themselves against a nation of thirty or forty millions, and that nation the United States, is so ridiculous as to carry with it its own refutation. Brigham Young has been deemed a fanatic, but no one ever accused him of being a fool. Defensive measures he might, and did employ, as we shall see, against United States troops, sent, as he believed and as they themselves boasted, to re-enact in Salt Lake Valley the bloody scenes of Jackson County and Far West, but never did he lift finger or lisp word in aggressive warfare against the Union. On the contrary when its life seemed hanging by a thread, which the shears of Secession were put forth to sunder, he not only repelled all over- tures from the South to join Utah to the Confederacy, but offered to President Lincoln material aid in the nation's defense. No; all that Brigham Young could have meant, when he said that if let alone for ten years he would "ask no odds of them" was that by that time, Mormonism in all probability would have demonstrated to the world its true spirit and motives, so much misunderstood,-demonstrated them by practical results; and if that would not avail to win it friends, then its numerical strength, combined with its admirable strategic position behind the rocky ramparts of Nature's own rearing, would enable it to successfully withstand the assaults of mobs, such as had formerly sought its destruction.
Brigham Young, having "laid down the law" to the pioneer congregation that Sunday afternoon-July 25th, 1847-next directed the organization of three exploring parties, to start out next morning and explore the country to the north, south and west. Said he: "It is necessary that we should learn the facilities of the country and be able to report to our brethren whose eyes are turned towards us. But I can tell you before you start," he added, "that
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you will find many good places and many facilities for settlements all around us, and you will all return feeling satisfied that this is the most suitable place, and the place for us to make our commence- ment. Here is the place to build our city." Experience has certainly proven, since that hour, the truth of the great colonizer's forecast.
Monday morning, July 26th, the pioneers resumed their secular labors. Plowing and planting began early, so anxious were they to get in their crops while there yet remained hope of a har- vest. Carpenters and blacksmiths were at work rigging up plows and other implements, with a view to increasing at once the force of husbandmen. The explorers also started out according to instruc- tions, the President heading one party in person, and leaving the camp about 10 o'clock a. m. This party consisted of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson, Albert Carrington and William Clayton. Messrs. Kimball, Woodruff, Benson and Smith had ascended City Creek Canyon several miles the Saturday evening before. The party now climbed the hills west of the canyon and proceeded north- ward, the President still riding. "A good place to raise an ensign," he remarked-a fragment of Apostle Pratt's sermon probably linger- ing in his mind-as the party planted their feet upon a prominent peak near the western edge of a mountainous spur partly enclosing the valley on the north. "Ensign Peak," the mountain was accord- ingly named, which title it still bears. Wilford Woodruff was the first to ascend it. The President, still feeble, could hardly climb, even with assistance, to the summit. From the top of Ensign, the view on all sides was more than ever sublime. Descending to the valley, the party visited the Warm Springs, in which some of them bathed, finding the waters "very pleasant and refreshing." They were especially beneficial to those who had been afflicted with mountain fever. They returned to camp about 5 p. m.
Joseph Matthews and John Brown, returning from the western mountains, reported the distance across the valley as being about
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fifteen miles. The soil west of the river they found to be of inferior quality to that upon the east side. No fresh water was discovered after leaving the "Utah Outlet,"* which was about two miles from camp. They had brought back a stray horse, found near the moun- tains, and supposed to have been lost by the Donner party, or some other company that had passed that way.
Other explorers returning reported that the canyons in the vicinity contained plenty of timber, such as sugar-maple, ash, oak, fir and pine.
While the explorers had been absent, the farmers had planted three more acres with potatoes, and several acres with corn, peas and beans. These crops, planted so late, were not destined to mature ; though a few small potatoes "from the size of a pea upward to that of half an inch in diameter" were obtained as excellent seed for another year's planting.
Early on the morning of the 26th, before the President's explor- ing party had set out, Lorenzo D. Young obtained permission to remove his wagons from the south branch of City Creek to a more elevated, and as he believed, healthier site on the branch running westward, near what was afterwards known as the Whitney Corner, opposite the north-east corner of Temple Block. There stood a soli- tary scrub-oak, one of the few trees at first visible in the valley. Beneath the scant shade of this exile of the forest,-for it was neither monarch nor resident of the wood,-he placed his cov- ered wagon-box, lifting it from the wheels for that purpose, and did all in his power to make a comfortable and cozy little nook for his dejected wife, so sadly dispirited over the treeless and desolate aspect of their new home. The President and his party, passing by on their way to the mountains, decided that this was a better camp- ground than the one then occupied. Other wagons were therefore directed to remove to that vicinity, which, being done, it was thence-
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