| Show TRUTH AS TO DIXIE DIXI E EOn One On ot of the correspondents who has been writing about th they new oil fields In the Virgen river country says the people down there have known about the oil for a long while but would tell no one for tear fear ot of an Influx ot of non Mormons In the tho Int rest of historical accuracy that Impression needs ro re revision vision ision As a matter ot of fact no community in the west has been more anxious to have hae outsiders invest In its resources than the people of Dixie as the south southern ern country Is known The original original inal settlers rs of oC St SL George led by Erastus Snow were among the most progressive e ot of the pioneers They were shut out from the rest the world by b desert on three sides and their communication communication with Salt Lake was over ocr a along along long difficult stretch of territory with without without out transportation facilities Of all the outposts ot of civilization theirs was the most remote In the early days they were harassed by Navajos until the they were compelled to maintain a mounted patrol In which each citizen served his turn None but the most courageous men and women could have hae borne the privations ot of those early days but In of at their untoward surroundings they built builta a great temple bringing some ome ot of the timber from the Trumbull I t 4 I I mountains fi e mU mites s away They rhey constructed Irrigation works they established a cotton colton lacto factory wIth ma machinery machinery chinery brought across the plains They grew orew he h cotton themselves selves an ano i ll traded theIr goods for other products product when cash was Yet with all theatress the of material things thing they kept th irl f meals ideals they built schools at an cost they sa more than most small communities communities do their standards That much for the class of people in Dixie Now as to their attitude to toward toward ward the outside world The mayor of 01 St George Is a Judge Francis Dagget He has lived among these people a long while and although he was one of a G Gentiles inthe in inthe the community for years he neer never had any trouble with his neighbors on the contrary he was recognized as R a lead leader j er cr valued as an advisor trusted as a friend Aspiring to no office he has been compelled to accept it as a tribute I to his merIts The Dixie folks have known for tor years ears I that they had oil and cannel coal and copper and Iron near by They have I never concealed the existence of these I riches as some would have the world I II I believe bellec but on the th contrary have tried hard to get outsiders to develop their 1 wealth At the Portland far fair they hadon had I Ion on exhibition samples of their oil and I shale as well as theIr other natural resources re resources sources and for long years such menas men I as James Andrus Thomas Judd th x I late P n C Lund and others have talked I 1 and worked and spent money to inter interest interest est the outside world They not only sought help In the development of f their country but they exhausted their own limited resources to develop for i themselves Within a very few miles s of Virgen Cit City and Mr Judd had a I ranch for which he secured a water supply b by tunneling a mountain He spent what was to him a fortune tr tring try in ing to get Salt Lakers Interested with him In the establishment of a health resort on this ranch Others near him have been baen putting In an Irrigation irrigation I gation line on the Virgen river inS fug an enormous amount of rock work blasting and highline flume fiume Toa To a yin it looked like a task even een with unlimited means and yet it I was attempted by a people who grind I and grind and save a dime at a time in order that they might reclaim more of the the desert Repel outsiders Wh Why these people have hao besought outsiders to come in only to have haye their appeal fan fall on deaf ears here In Utah until strangers from Nevada proved the truth of an all thE claims the Dixie promoters made when a rush followed The truth is as shown by all the records that the wealthy men of this state have haye had aU all the opportunities of o f Dixie spread before them and have Ig Ignored ignored nored them No one is to blame hut but themselves and It Is manifestly unfair to charge that religIous prejudice or Ignorance had anything to do with It ItA itA A much better way would be to take advantage o of the opportunities that re remain remain main and utilize them to the No finer region exists on on the continent than this same Dixie land no more progressive people live anywhere the soil is rich the water wate r supply large the climate is perfection In winter and better than the average e desert climate In summer The land an d 1 needs capital and transportatIOn f facil facilities cli itie but Uh these It would he be the th e garden spot of Utah as wen well as a ric rich h contributor to the future greatness of o f the state |
