Show IN IN THE H E BEGINNING BEG I N NN N I N G B A J Iter Cecil CecilA OTHER PIONEERS' PIONEERS OPINIONS To most of the Mormon pioneers the Salt Lake valley was a pretty hard set of facts and conditions by any visionary or prophetic promises of a personal nature They knew it was fortified completely by mountains mountains mountains moun moun- deserts and great distances strewn with major hardships over which they had but re recently recently recently re- re labored and that alone gave them an intriguing hope for a far off far o independence after a ter much labor Jabor But the people on ar arrival arrival arrival ar- ar rival were rather tather badly run down to be at atthe atthe atthe the beginning of the greatest tasks of a lifetime lifetime life life- time hence the pathos in much that they had to say S S S SIf If I had but one record of those early days Instead of five or six I 1 would prefer it to be William Claytons Clayton's Journal who for lor a minute now takes the microphone from the crest of the last ridge on the road For my own part I am happily disappointed he writes If the land be as rich as it has the appearance of being I have no fears but the saints can live Jive here and d do well wen There is but little timber in sight anywhere and that is mostly on Ion the banks of the streams of water which is about the only objection that could be raised but we have not expected to find a timbered country he adds Spanish Brick There is no prospect for building log houses h uses without spending a vast amount of time and labor Jabor but we can make Spanish brick and dry I them in the sun or we can build lodges as the Pawnee Indians do in their villages he de de- de clares dares I If H I had my family with me rae how happy I could be for I dread nothing so much muchas as the journey back again I could almost envy those who have got safely through having having haying hav hay ing their families with them yet they will doubtless have a hard time of it the coming winter Just before emerging into the valley Clayton Clayton Clayton Clay Clay- ton says he saw v a bed of the largest bulrushes he ever saw some of them being fi fifteen teen feet high and an inch and a half in diameter at the bottom The grass on Last creek grew to a height of from six to twelve feet There were many rattlesnakes of large size size he said and supposed they had their dens in the moun moun- thins He says says says' most of the brethren were pleased plc with d-with with the place but some complained because there was no timber There was a unanimous agreement however in regard to the richness of the soil and the prospects of fattening the livestock The only objection was the lack of timber and rain rain The hatter latter latter lat hat ter God will send in its season if the saints are faithful l he concludes in his optimism Women Were Vere Disappointed M Mrs s. s Harriet Young the eldest of the three pioneer women said Weak and weary as I Iam Iam Iam am I would rather go a thousand miles farther farther far far- farther far far- ther than remain in such a forsaken place as this And Mrs Ellen Kimball echoed those sentiments The daughter Mrs Clara D. D Young however was satisfied with the situation My poor mother was almost brokenhearted she said being terribly disappointed because there were no trees I dont don't remember a tree that could be called a tree S S S SWe We gazed in wonder and admiration upon the vast valley vaHey before us wrote Wilford Woodruff Woodruff Wood Wood- ruff with the waters of the Great Salt lake glistening in the the- sun mountains towering to the skies and streams of pure water running through the beautiful ul valley It was the grandest grand grand- est scene we had ever beheld Declares Sundays fo for tor Rest RestOn RestOn RestOn On Sunday July 25 1847 Brigham Young was still too weak for a public address but buthe buthe buthe he told the brethren through Wilford Woodruff Woodruff Woodruff Wood Wood- ruff that they must not work on Sunday that they would lose five times as much as they would gain by it None were to hunt on that day and there should not any man dwell among them who would not observe those rules Orson Pratt was the chief orator on that occasion and appropriately selected for his text the passage from Isaiah 8 How beautiful beautiful ful upon the mountains are the feet of him that good tidings that peace pence that good tidings of good that salvation that saith unto Zion Thy God God th thy watchmen shall lift up the the voice with the voice together shall they sing for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion He endeavored to show conclusively that the prophecy of Isaiah had been fulfilled by the establishment of the church in the mountain-girt mountain valley of the Great Salt lake |