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Show Early Mormons used isthmus of Panama ByQUlG NIELSEN The isthmus of Panama was considered con-sidered by Mormon leaders in their early settlement plans long before the famous canal became a reality. The Mormon prophet, Brigham Young, had advised, "It is wisdom for the English Saints to cease emigration by the usual route through the States.. .and remain where they are till they shall hear from us again.. .It is our design to open up a way across the interior of the continent, by Panama. ' By crossing the Panama isthmus, by foot or wagon, a distance of some 40 miles, and then sailing north nor-th to San Diego, the immigrants would save 3,000 miles of inland travel. Brigham Young's settlement program called for the establishment estab-lishment of "a stronghold for the gathering of the Saints" in southern California. It would be "an outfitting outfit-ting post for immigrants bound for Utah.. .(and) a shipping point, the gateway settlement from the Pacific into the Mormon commonwealth." It was to become a second Salt Lake City. Mormon apostles Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich were selected by Young to lead a company com-pany of 520 people in finding a Pacific site. They arrived in southern California on June 1 , 1851, and immediately set out to secure a tract. Ranch o de San Bernardino, a tract containing 35,509 acres, was finally selected and purchased for $77,500. It was to be a typical Mormon settlement. The plan to have immigrants cross the narrow neck of land in Central America didn't materialize because there was no regular shipping shipp-ing available for the proposed route to San Diego. However, San Bernardino grew rapidly and the establishment of the Mormon corridor along the Old Spanish Trail, mainly a name rather than a trail, from Salt Lake City to southern California was now complete. com-plete. But San Bernardino as a permanent per-manent Mormon stronghold, was ,-not ,-not to be. Brigham Young called the settlers back to Utah in late 1857 because of the expected ar- rival of Johnston's Army. Source: Hunter, "Brigham Young, the Colonizer' ' (Quig Nielsen is an information officer for the Museum of Chif History and Art in Salt Lake Citfc |