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Show . ' . . . . . —-— SRT . as : Se ne es a SSER ™~ eee _ ; ARGUS. 7 atti el THE 2 The : e Pioneers planting and growing; with a thousand miles between them and civilization; heartsick, weary and worn out with their thousand-mile tramp; with the knowledge that they had literally burned their bridges behind them; with the fact staring them in the face that in the estimation of Utah. of , oe | | | | the world, at least, their hands were against every man and every man’s hand was against them—with all this and much more, I say, to eonfront, the situation of the Utah pioneers has never been equalled It is now nearly fifty years since the original founders of Utah wended their weary and blood-stained way from the muddy Missouri to the then uninviting and inhospitable valley at that time without even a name, and which was under Spanish control. It is not the purpose of the writer to tell how came they why and select to val- the ley where we now reside as the chosen land. It may, as has been claimed, been revealed to the leaders of the pioneers in a vision, it may be that the brainy Brigham Young saw far enough ahead to discern that under R. G. TAYSUM. the rough exterior the valley of the Great He knew that for many Salt Lake held the qualities he was seeking. years to come the people under his charge would have to depend upon the soil for an existence, and it is certain that he had faith in the productiveness of the soil; had that not been the case, it is hardly probable that he would have risked placing the few grains of wheat and the few potatoes in the ground with the idea of raising a fair crop that ! ) It is pretty season. years twenty ago, admitted generally that great the chief Young, the founder of Utah, the of what he was about, and to his credit, even that he rarely ever made any mistakes. Brigham even now, if it was Mormon at this late date, died not ten people or knew be it said | nearly twenty years ago, and there are very few of the 147 people who entered this valley on July 24, 1847, who are alive today to tell the story of their travels. It has been claimed by many that the Utah pioneers simply had to contend with the same difficulties and vicissitudes that always surround | | the ; men and the women who essay to openup anew country and make two blades of grass grow where but one, or none, grew before. While to a certain extent this may be true, it is not wholly so. No other body of people on the earth, unless it be the Pilgrim Fathers, ever met together under such peculiar circumstances. The history of the world can be studied from start to finish without finding a parallel. In most cases, the pioneer has hardships to undergo, and he seeks his new He knows his lot will be a hard one for home with that idea in view. several years at best; he is fully aware that nature can be subdued only by sturdy blows intelligently directed, but as a rule the men who ‘ ed ata a is te IN & GEORGE Q. CANNON. All the wealth of the Ontario at that time in the history of the world. What would not have purchased a pair of shoes or a peck of potatoes. They went the right they wanted, what they must have, was food. way about Earth. food it to But other thousand get what than it when they sought a predicament! they miles! expected No friendly A the the assistance possible earth neighbors failure to on produce whom of old Mother of crops, and no nearer than a could make a they call and borrow a few hundred pounds of flour until the grist came home from the mill! Nothing between them and death but what they could wring from the earth, viting in appearance! Yet is they now prospered. accepted; which Not, there at that time perhaps, were many in the was same times anything sense when that hunger but in- prosperity was present; when starvation was within hailing distance at least; times when they needed all the faith that was in them-—-a faith, too, made stronger by the belief that they were God’s chosen people and were being used jas instruments to carry out God’s purposes. * ** * But with their belief we have nothing to do. It is their works in which we are now interested—and the results now seen through the length and breadth of the great State of Utah. No matter why they ‘came; were who the them! they men Hats were; who what their founded this their likes or commonwealth. dislikes; All they honors to off! * It was belief: great early in February, * 1846, ‘Mississippi on their pilgrimage * that the pioneers began to cross the to the then trackless West; according €3 . to the of old and ee | WILFORD | peer | e of Brigham flatboats, night, until Young. lighters the and work was the vanguard of the have " e i founded commonwealths have of other towns well settled, almost, | : done so within a stone’s throw, and from which it was possible, under certain conditions, at least, to draw some sustenance in case of * * “quite was a fleet’? kept In a we going, few are told both day days all were faith of their ok in surrounding States. * In the At high noon on the first of March, was begun the journey. caravan were nearly 400 wagons, and but five miles were made. on that day, the snow being deep upon the ground the need. was which accomplished. others * ' | There skiffs, located on the west side of the river, awaiting the arrival of their These Jeader Brigham, who left Nauvoo on the 15th of February. formed WOODRUFF. diary neighborhood and the thermometer in of zero. a *t * * With the Utah pioneers, however, the case was just the reverse. Driven away beyond the confines of civilization into a country filled with the hostile reds who had as much love for a white man in those days as a cat has for a mouse; forced to agriculture simply because As soon as the pioneers were fairly on the march they were divided into companies of “hundreds,” “fifties” and “tens,” each being provided with the proper officers, to whom they were responsible, and the officers in turn were responsible to the one leader—Brigham Young. At the it was necessary that they should eat; with a limited knowledge latter end of April of they camped at Garden Grove, as they called it, |