| Show BY PREST HE giles A VIVID description OF JULY 24 1817 youngs prophetic words and their fulfillment fulfilment the following address from president wilford woodruff was read before the assembled sabbath schools of salt lake city at their celebration of pioneer day to the and citizens and to the and members of the sabbath schools my dear friends forty one years ago this day I 1 passed through immigration canyon with president brigham young he was taken sick on east canyon creek and T made a bed for him in my carriage when we came upon tho bench where we hada fa i view of tho valley before us I 1 turned the bide of ihn vehicle to the west so that he could obtain a fair view of the valley president young arose from his bed and took a survey of the country before him for several minutes he then said to me drive on down into the valley this is our abiding I 1 have seen it before in vision in this valley will be built the city of the Saints and Temple tho of our god I 1 drove down to the encampment already formed by a portion of our company who had cut a road through the quaking asp groves of timber which wore in the bed of the canyon and came in ahead of us we arrived in the encampment at 1130 on the the of july 1817 the brethren had already turned out city creek and irrigated the dry and barren soil being the ever performed by any one in these mountains in this age they had also commenced to plow some ground and that noble pioneer william carter whose circumstances cum stances prevent his meeting with the pioneers to day broke the first first furrow the plowshare plow snare that performed the w ork is on the stand today to day on my arrival in camp before I 1 ate my dinner I 1 planted iwo bushels ground broken up president young commenced to recover from his sickness the hour he entered valley on a day or two following our arrival incident occurred president was walking with several of the apostles on tho higher oi cue ho suddenly stopped out struck his cane into the barren ground and sagebrush and exclaimed eight here will stand the temple of our god we had a peg driven down and it was nearly m the middle af pf the templo as it stands today to day which temple was built without any regard to the spot designated by president young at the time on the he went tc the top of a high point on the bortl of the city which president young visited the hot and warm springs on the we drove to the west mountains and visited the salt lake president young being the first man to dip his hand into the briny water we walked to the black rock and took a bath in tho lake afterwards preparations were made for laying out the city and I 1 with other brethren assisted president young in laying out the grounds and streets with chain and compass he laid out a block of ton acres upon which to build a temple and city lots of one acre and a quarter and streets eight rods wide all of which have been published by historians president young left winter quarters on the ath day of april accompanied by seven oiher apostles and other men all told men and three women the apostles were brigham young heber C Kimball Wilford woodruff geo A smith willard eichardt Eich ards orson pratt amasa lyman and ezra T benson parley P and john taylor arrived soon after leading companies of families orson hyde remained at kanesville Kanes ville we traveled the first miles without any grass with th exception of the little grain we fed our animals they lived entirely on tho bark of cottonwood limbs and saplings which they gnawed from the cottonwood we would lay before them for their nights meal this company of men traveled 1000 miles making their roads and building their bridges in one in stanco we bad to form a a shape for three days and nights to keep our company from being trampled to death by an enormous herd of buffalo that had gathered from the mountains landwere and were migrating in a solid body to the plains below the herd was judged to be sixty miles in length and numbered not less than one million they were traveling east and we were traveling west we were throe days passing through the herd and wo all i breathed free when we O clear of them no other class of men will ever witness the same scene again ajon the face of the earth brother wm 0 A smoot sr got his horses loose and with the herd and it was with difficulty that we ob them again withstanding yet pur first care was to secure an abiding place a home for the people we did not lose sight of other important matters president young contemplated at that early day the building of a railroad across the continent and we marked out the bouto which we thought the national raad would t aake to unite the atlantic and pacific oceans brothers orson spratt and erastus snow entered the valley two or three days before the body of tha pioneers i but where are those men today to day and where is president brigham youna i and the apostles who accompanied him all are in the spirit world mingling with the martyred marty red prophets baere they can plead for their breth ren not one of them living today to day except myself and but few of the pioneers remain we have buried a whole quorum of twelve apostles since we entered these valleys of the mountains the remnant of zions camp mormon battalion and the pioneers number but very few today to day those of us who remain will soon pass away but our posterity lives and are numbered m the primaries the sabbath schools and the mutual improvement pro associations and are this day assembled in this great tabernacle to celebrate the arrival of the pioneers into this great american desert which today to day through the blessing of god and labor of the pioneers is blossoming bloss oming as the rose this company of pioneers spent about a month in this valley during which period we erected what is known as the old fort surrounding three sides of the ten acre block with an adobe wall about ten feet high on lache outside and the east side with log cabins we also arranged for this fort to have four entrances one on each point of the compass most of the pioneers returned to winter quarters where they reached in the fall making a journey of over 2000 miles besides the labors performed while building a fort laying out the city and exploring the adjacent valleys I 1 to say a few words to the members of the sabbath schools and to all who are assembled in this tabernacle today to day to celebrate the arrival of the pioneers into this valley it is nut wisdom for us to occupy your time with a long address upon an occasion of this kind but I 1 have referred to a few incidents of our peculiar journey into this barren desert that yon can keep in mind tho toil the care and the hardships which your fathers endured in laying the foundations of tho zion of our god which is to be established in the mountains of israel in the fulfillment of the blessings of the old patriarch jacob pronounced upon his posterity that should be fulfilled in the valleys of the everlasting hills in the latter days and upon the heads of the rising generation of tho latte rd saints rests the responsibility of building up the kingdom of god upon the foundations which their fathers have laid and also of building up a state in which shall dwell virtue temperance industry frugality and honesty a state which will do honor to the american where whole some laws shall bo administered in equity and justice to all of its citizens according to the letter and spirit of the constitution given by inspiration oj almighty god to our forefathers I 1 feel to say to our children honor your father and your mother and god that your days may be long and prosperous in these valleys of the ni omine which the lord your god unto vou that houim ii i i x enable you to fulfill the object of your creation hera on earth to the satisfaction of yourselves and your friend and brother |
