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Show THL'-HOIUIO.W'AS C0L0.MZEUS Tin: following, which appeared iu the 1'hienix (Arizona) Uaxette, as correspondence written at Tempc, May lblli, gives a fair idea or the quality of the Latter-day Saints as colonizers of new and undcvelojd portions of the country : "We hear much tbefte dajs about tho Mormons and their habits, in duttry. hc-, bnt not many people understand un-derstand them. 'The writer was here when tho Mesa Mormons arm ed at their now beautiful sutroandings. "The handful of Mormon emigrants, who located at Mesa, ai the site of a colony, bad a keen insizht into the future. The little band consisted of about nine families, and a few camp followers. After pitcning their tents on the river bottom, and making an inventory of their w orld j goods.whlch was comprised chiefly of a few head of slock, they went to work with a thorough appreciation of the adago that labor conquers all things. Doctor .Jozes, an old timer aud civil engineer, sun eyed too route of their proposed canaL This done, the work of cutting it through rock, cement and soft earth for a distance of nine miles, commenced com-menced In dead earnest, in tho month of February, 1STS. "Tho total force mustered on the canal for the firs: forr months never wentabove twelve men, yetia the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, laboring under tbo midday blaze of a tropical sun, without the thadovof a shade, with insatfilcnt food at times for men or beasts, that handful of wanderers, in search of a permanent abiding place, kept on day by day, working on the problem of turning a barren desert into a ast orchard and vineyard. To a wealthy company, such an undertaking un-dertaking would be but a trifle In the annals of its transacuous;- but to those twelve hardy sons of toll who mc- tcrod on that February day, on the banks of tho Salt River, to dig and delve for many a weary day and month, It was an undertaking on their part fraught with the weal or woe of 1 their future destinies, riuck and i perseverance, however, triumphed over all obstacles, and the final result of nine months' labor was the proud satisfaction of seeing water flowing oer our present townsitc The flow of wafer was then but a mere trickle to what wo have now, and what with breakages and rat holes, It required two or three shares of water the nrst two years of settlement, Jo Irrigate a five aero patch In a week. Taking this into consideration, and the fact that with the exception of a few teams left after their long and weary task, as well .as the little band being financially down to bed rock. It Is no canto for surprio that but little progress was made in improIngand cultivating their holdings, during the first three years of settlement. Soon, however, well-to-do settlers began to arrive, and with tbo usual generosity so proverbial among Mormons, Mor-mons, of aiding ono another, combined com-bined with what the younger members of the famdy could bring in by freighting, the ciders managed to start little patches of fruit trees and grapo vines, which have since, and now are being rapidly rap-idly developed into immenso orchards and vineyards, and which before many more seasons roll by, will be proof positive of the Mesa being the bett fruit-growing portion of North America. It wdl be seen from tbo aboTe that the Mesa was almost at a standstill during Iu first three years of colonization; with a canal that required re-quired continual repairs a broken exchequer, and without a permanent leader, such as they had been used to lathe bills and valleys of Utah, It Is unrprising Indeed that they did not dk-acrre, family by family, until they had scattered far and wide over the coast. The early teachings of tho founders of their creed frugality, sobriety, industry in-dustry and patience came in right here to their aid, and with a grit worthy wor-thy of tho cause tbo colonization of the desert, and the spread of their creed they kept on right manfully hi improving and enlarging their canal, until tboy bavo now ono that is capablo of Irrigating 35.WJ acres of land. Tho results of tho labors of these pioneers can now bo daih seen in the grain and hay fields, in our orchards loaded down with fruit of every description; des-cription; In our vinej anls bearing fivo to eight tons of luscious crapes to tbo acre; in our bee, producing our honey; iu our sorghum mills, turning out our sj nip: inourstrawberrybeds ielding abundantly; and, on ctere rancher's table fat looking spuds" of his on n raising: and at this sca-on of the year, neat cottages on every hand, fronted bj mazy walks andllowcr beds scentlug tho air for rods with a fragrant perfum, uut'I one imagines he Is In some fairy land, instead of sitting under his owu cool fig tree. |