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IProm tU© ffllmourl 10 tU© Pacific.[Special Correspondence of the Now YsrV Tribune.]Great Saw Lake Oity, Utah,Monday, Juno 19, 1SG5,.It will ho eighteen yearn, on tho 24th of July, since tho first Mormons nrrivetl in this lonely region The r prophot killed, them selves exiles from Missouri and Illinois, after aweary journey of many months, they reached this basin to struggle for oxistcnco with the unkindly soil, with Indians and with Mexicans. They claim that they loft the Missouri River with no dcfluito point of settlement; that on tho route, itt a vision Brigham Young saw a beautiful, mountain-guarded valley which Heaven assured himjyas their futnro homo; that on coming in view of Ensign Peak, the Jordan and the Great Salt Lake ho instantly exclaimed “Hero is the spot.”They numbered one hundred and forty, three, including four women. Immediately upon arrival they knelt down and thanked God (or his guidanco and protection. Thu same day they commenced plowing. An old trader, tho only white man in this region, declared that he would give a thousand dollars for the first ear of corn they could raise from this parched and barren soil. But there is nl-| d’as's a fdtuie for settlers who pray and then , ^ to pjpwing. How this strange beginning ^ bai’k t° that other dispised bandcanvs u..which on™ 1lt;U1 «» °« »■ d™-yDecember morning.Snowy Winters and raiiuV.?'* Sum’1*01^ hos-tile Indians and all devouring gras.shoppoi ^ not dishearten the Mormons. Thoy learnedtrial, to bo compensated for only tho happiness Of eternity, Two or three sisters often have tho saino husband ; some mon aro married to a mother and her daughter, and some I am told to their own half sisters. When possible, each wife occupies a separate houso or room ; but poverty sometimes compels threo or fourto live in the same nj artments. I think thoy never bring in tho mothers-in-law 1 Even Mormon grace would hardly suffice for that 1 Not more than one man in four is a practical Polygamist. The first wife nearly always dooms herself superior to tho rest, sometimes refusing to speak with them, or recognize tho legitimacyof their marriage. “Are you Mr. ’g onlywife ?” asked Gentile lady of a- Mormon siRtor. “I am,” wus tho reply, ‘•though sevoral othor tvomcn call themselves his wives?”But I know one husband whoso two spouBOs dress precisely alike, go out much together, and really seem to regard each othor with sisterly affection. Tho latov wives nro a Uttlo addicted to running away with Gentiles. Our military authorities rccoivo all thorn who go to them for protection. Thoro aro now between forty and fifty recanting Mormon women at the fort. In many cases tho soldiers marry them. Only yosterday a father told Colonel Gcorgo, commanding, that tho Bishops wcro urging marriage upon his thrco young daughters who wcro opposod to Polygamy, and that ho wished to remove his family to tho fort.— Hero is tho natural solution of tho Mormon problem. While it is grossly inconsistent for tho Government (as now) to appoint to lucrative SPd responsible offices men who havo takenthis new agriculture ; established home.-,; b3-1.second .and third wives sinco the anti Polyggan to have cuttle upon a thousand hills; contributed largely from their lean purses to theChurch, sending missionaries all over tho world. The great deluge of California emigration furnished a market for their grain and beef. Even Johnston’s army, sent out to restrain and, if needful, to subdue them, purchased their crops and added to their wealth, Later, the silver mines of Nevada, and tho gold discoveries of Colorado, Idaho and Montana (tho last among the richest placer digg-aiuy act bocaifio the law of tho land, 1 seo no special Advantage w actively enforeeing that act. Within two or three years thoro will boa groat mining population hero, in which menwill largely preponderate. Human n:\turo will triumph. Tho majority of these women will no longer accept ono undivided half or sixth of a husband—in some cases a very vulgir fraction indeed—when a full unit is attainable.On Saturday night wo atton led tho theater. Tho playing, costumes, and scenery were doings in the world) havo contributed largoly to cidedly better than metropolitan theaters wt'ltheir prosperity. How can farmers fail to grow rich when tlour commands $10 per hundred throughout tho year ?Now a population of ono hundred thousandaverage ; and tho building in size and elegance is excelled by only five or six in tho United States. Tho performance closed with an exquisite fairy spectacle, which made it difil-nddcd- | is claimed for Utah and twenty thousand for \ cult to roali/.e that we were in tho heart of thoAnioricunDes-Tt. A dozen o( Brighutn Young's childron wcro among the actors and ballot girls. The Prosiduit himself sat in his private box besidq his first wife—a lino looking matronly lady of sixty, 11 is newest wife was in tho pnrquctto. So wore a scmro of his child-ron, and eight or ten more of his better* thirtieth*, for Ids wives arc said to number nearly thirty, including all who aro “sealed” to him. Tho latter class nro wives for eternity; and the relation in this world is supposed to bo spiritual, not physical, I havo received the explanatory assurance that they are mainly liko Othello, “declined into tho vulo of years.”Having said so much of Ilarnlot, I must not omit a personal description of tho Prince.— The President of the Mormon Church is six feet high, portly, and woighs about two hundred. Ho is wonderfully well-preserved for ft man who has passed his sixty fourth birthday. His face Is fresh and umvrinklod, his step agile and elastic. I can hardly detect a single gray hair in his curling auburn locks, or whiskers of tho samo hue, which in smooth, crescent lino fringe his chock and chin. Is Brigham Young indeed u new Ponce dc Leon, who has discovered in Polygamy the fountain of Perpot-ual Youth ?His eyes are of grayish blue. Thoy do not impress mo as frank and open, but have a su-crctivo expression. IIo has nn eagle noso and a mouth that shuts liko a vieo, indicating tremendous Hvmnoss. His manner is dignified— agreeable and affable rather than cordial; and ho carries tho mmstakablo air of ono having authority. Ordinarily cold in conversation, he has little ebullitions of earnestness in which ho speaks right at people, using his dexter for-finger with great force to point a moral. IIo trouts tho brethren with warmth, throwing his arm caressingly ubout thorn and asking carefully after their wives and bahios.IIo has observed much, thought much, and that they nro tho only crop which does not ro-1 ,njUg[0d tmtyh with practical mcu ; but aooma { at I quire irrigation. On Friday, by invitation, I L dttj0 unfamilliar with cultivated society. IIo n of visited Brigham Young’s school. Its register ^ Rbstomious and temperate, using neither toaro* I contained thirty four names, two or throo of I nor coq*oe4 spirits nor tobacco. Provincialisms them his grandchildren, the vest hia children. Lf j4ia Vermont boyhood and his Western a Vos {Thoro wore twenty-eight present, ranging in I manhood still cling to him. IIo says “leetlo,” the ago from four years upward. Thoy aro pccu- »*boyorilt;l0 and “disromombcr” An irroprcssi-^woI Uarly bright-looking, intelligent, and well ftd- gj0 confljct between his nominatives and verbs ^theI vance'l hi study. With threo of tho °^orjnow and then crops out in expressions like girls — of about seventeen—I afterwards had | t»tj)0y wa8» „tc. some conversation. Though a little shy, allic I this city. Perhaps tho last figures nro loo largo, but already this is the most populous, as it is the most beautiful town, between St-Louis and San Francisco. During tho year ending Juno 1st, Ben Holladay’s Overland Express took $1,012,979, 07 in gold dust hence to the States—though only a small fraction of the gold go.'s in by express. Last year a single merchant sold upward of $1,000,000 worth of goods, and paid for freight alone from the Missouri River over $160,000. This is till tho city of the Future. Hero is tho field of te|agriculture, the focus of commerce, the path* g- way of ompire.5t»l Indeed, this treeless desert has been made to :r| blossom as tho rose. Tho other evening a Mormon friend turned us loose among his ntU strawberries and juicy cherries. Apricot3, nt peaches, plums, pours and apples wero all ripe-ro* ning upon his trees. Right besMo them, just j beyond his enclosure, tho dreary sago bush was growing on tho dry, sandy soil; and four years ago, what is now his garden was an un-100{broken desert like tho rost. In his houso the lcrI caterpillars wero making silk, Tho linen of oa» I his coat and pantaloons wero wovon in his ,no own dwelling from his own flux, and his undor-‘k'I clothing was manufactured in a factory of B01 Brigham Young’s from cotton grown in tho in 1 southern counties.. ••On Wednesday wo visited tho Great Salt Lftko, twenty miles hvnco. It is one hundred and twenty miles long, containing six or seven by [islands, all of rugged mountains. At low waive tor throo gallons of its fluid will produce ono on* of fine, clear salt, Tho fact that whilu four i‘sa' I fresh-water rivers flow in, it has no visible [0Qf outlot, gives rise t« many theories. Wo found mil it delightful to swim in, though unpleasantly buoyant. It is claimed that ono cannot possl-Jjte‘ jbly sink, hut its pregnant waters must render lujj strangulation very easy.ynl The great number of children in those,orH streets arouses wonder until ono rornembors ints.hothesoswerYet those who hold Brigham Young a cheapon- usod Kood language and gracofol nuinnor*-1 ^ ,f possiblo thw thoiai- 0n° '3PR,tty t l 110 01 Saints who iccoivo him as an.angol of light, orthoro is grout emulation for her mmlos among ^ ^ dun0u|lC0 Wm aR „ gol)lintho young mon of tho city. Brigham s child- A ^ onlbodimo|lt ot- thoron osccod fifty, including many whoi are nun-L ^ p ,10 UulJs a |miHlvod thousand• % . . i i. _ it 11 /I /III I I nnt v Aft Ijokey»cart.oint,in up ofmardinos,vers,vied and havo sons and daughters of their own, I also visited ono ition from $4 tom »mi|people in the hollow of his hand. GatheredVu Ml °°}S f from every nation, always poor, usually igno-$10 dollars per quarter; free hus momod themant, sometimes vicious, ho has molded themschools aro unknown. Iho forehead woro I ^ pri)(luoliv0) hono8t andnarrower, and tho average mtolhgonco hQra ou(,ou8 c(111„mlnUy. IIo has grown vory lower, though In some cases very good.' rich . t|,„ Gentiles charge him with extortionTho cordial hospitalities wo havo enjoyed 1 ttJnou^ j,)# own people. Ho certainly owns good I Iwo enabled me to boo something of 1 janch of tho dokirablu property in Utah. Rut loca-J and family life among tho Mormons, j,is adherents as a class havo vastly improved'them are no Ministers or Esquires ; everybody dlud. condition by coming here. I believe all b Brother “A” or sister “B.” I ho brethren ^tat his largo commercial dealings nroull assure us that tho women acquisco cheerfully cbttl.tt0tpvizcd by integrity; and that ho pos-in Polygamy—from roliglous conviction not 8eH80b gveat kinduesH of heart. Ho Is a man-from feeling-frequently urging their husbands brttinSt qU|ck intuitions, good judgment and to take additional wives. I am convinced tltut | unt|rj|,g industry. Ho would doubtless havo thU is often true—a wonderful triumph of| aobjovw| grcat succoss in politics, trado, man*I tit *... r■*A AnUt Unnnmn wtfn I - . a____ ___tt. -1uarcs but Lake 2very , and,wusid thoas beabout class;ftl «*»i..j faith over nature. But the only Mormon j ufactviring, or almost any othor walk of life, with whom I conversed alone on the subject —a lady of intelligence and culture—apoko of it with earnest, undisguised abhorrence.
Newspaper Details
Linn County Register
Marion, Iowa, US
Thu, Aug 03, 1865
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Tim S.
NA, 31 Dec 2018
Other Publications Near Marion, Iowa
Marion Register
Marion Pilot
Old Settler of Linn County
Linn County Patriot
Linn County Register
