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Show BRIGHAM YOUNG I Utah's 'First Citizen' Earned World Fame Thin Hpt pressed tightly together a ul92.:y. wide shouldered man eyed his cor.re33tioii with determination and aelf-SMurance. His hand slappet hard on the pulpit top. Wc must be a self -sustain ins; peo- The speaker waa Brigham Young thta and even now. GO years after bin death. Uteh'a "First Citisen." J Present-day hwtonans arc eager to prate th unschooled carpenter who kwns the leader of hia church and led hia follower 1000 miles Into the! wildernesa to auiki up a new com-j anonwealth. -"One of tha few American states-i men deserving the adjectiv great" i "A coloniser with few aquala in hici tory" "A man whaaa methods of conquering tha Groat American desert des-ert for human uae are of world-wids aignificance" "tha greatest person! ality in tha development of the west. In tha days, though, when Brigham Young, by sheer fore of hia perl aonality as much as anything ehel waa laying the groundwork tor th Intermountain empire that is Utah) praiae waa scanty except from hia faithful Mormon followera. Beset fey ridicule, prejudice and out! right apposition, he guided tha settlers through the first 30 years of theit colonization of Utah and proved th desert could "blossom aa a rose." I Vermont born, he was a carpentet and glazier by trade. He joined the L. D . S. church when it waa two and he was 31 years old. and three year later became a member of the first council of the twelve apoatlca. When Joseph Smith, prophet of the church, waa martyred in 1811 Brief ham. as ranking member of the twelvr apostles, asserted and waa sustained in hia claim to the right to lead the God was giving direction to the work in Utah. Hia vivid imagination, dramatic power pow-er and unquestioned sincerity made him an orator who waa particularly effective from the pulpit. Hia eer-mona eer-mona held not only religion, but also instruction regarding the daily life of the pioneers, and to the faithful both phaaea were inapired. "I wish that this people may grow and increase and become a great nation," na-tion," be told the settlers shortly after their arrival. "Don't be so devilish hoggish aa to be afraid to do a day'i work without getting paid for it." Ha recroased the plains late In 1847. and when he returned to Salt Lake City the following year there were 460 homes of adobes and logs, three sawmills and a flour mill in the new city. Not for a moment did he allow tha pioneers to believe that now their haven had been reached they could relax and their Lord would take care of them. Mix work with faith, preparedness with prayer, he adviaed. "Everything connected with the building of Zion requirea actual, severe se-vere labor." he said. -My faith is, when we have done all we can. then the Lord la under obligation and will not disappoint the faithful, he will perform the rest" The first pioneer party of 143 men. three women and two children arrived ar-rived in the valley on a Saturday. Sunday their leader waa still too weak to preach, but Monday he was leading lead-ing an exploring party into the hills. Salt Lake City was laid out, crops planted and arrangementa were being made for emigration of another 1500 persons from Winter Quarters before the week waa out. ! fji 1 i , - ' BRIGHAM YOUNG An excellent, Ettla known lilenets of UtaK't founder in his best years. church. Those were trying times and. dei-perate dei-perate In the face of continued pt-s4-cution, Brigham Young gathered nils "flock and headed westward. A Modern Moaea The crossing of the plains by thje plore?rs of 1847 is a saga of the west. In a climate far leas kindly and over a route far more difficult. Briej-ham Briej-ham Younn led the Mormons six timers farther than Moses did the rhildrc i ' of Israel. On July 24. 1847. lying ill with mouri tain fever in a wagon bed. he lifted himself on one elbow and looked ovejr the desolate Salt Lake valley. "This is the place. Drive on." But. as he perhaps well know. Biig-r.am Biig-r.am Young's work was just begin-' begin-' nirs A forbidding wilderness had to be conquered, thousands of emigrants had to be brought arross the plains, cities must be laid out. farm lands apportioned, Indians appeased, lawfs provided, schools and churches buit. andmost Important of all the Paints must be kept united in their efforts to build a mountain Zion. I Perhaps even Brigham Young could not have succeeded had hia people nt possessed a religious faith to give them courage to carry on but his leadef-ahip leadef-ahip did much to keep that faith alive. I Hts discourses were filled with unmistakable un-mistakable evidences that he since rely re-ly believed ho waa the tool by which I'rged Cooperation If one thing was dominant in the mnkeup of Brigham Young it was his belief that cooperation waa the keystone key-stone of progress, and from the start he labored to promote an "all for one, one for all" attitude among the pioneers. pio-neers. Pending action on their petition for admission as the state of Deseret, Ihe early arrivals organized a provisional pro-visional government with President Young as governor. This first effort to obtain statehood failed, but when congress organized Utah as a territory in 1850 Brigham Young became governor, gov-ernor, a post he held for eight years. And for the 20 yeara between close of his second term aa governor and his death in 1877 he continued to dominate the entire territory, to the chagrin of the federal officials sent out to govern. Only a man of tremendous vitality could have dreamed of attempting what Brigham Young accomplished. It wasn't enough that he had personal per-sonal charge of the manifold activities activ-ities of the L. D. S. church; that he managed his own widespread commercial com-mercial and agricultural holding: that he took the lead in promoting new enterprises; that he sent out colonists and made yearly visit by wagon to all communities so founded he made himself also the adviser of everyone who sought his aid on personal problems. prob-lems. "If yon do not know what to do ill order to do right, come ic at any time and I will give you the word of the Lord on the subject." he said. I As a result, as Willard Richards once wrote, "Our president sleeps with one . eye open and one foot out of brd." I Church member came to him when they thought of launching any business busi-ness enterprise, men and women took their domestic trouble to him. and, it ia reported, young men were even expected to ask his permission before be-fore they "courted" a young woman. wo-man. I "When you are tempted to da wrong, do not atop one moment to argue, hut tell Mr. Devil to walk oat of your barn." he admonished. There were three subjects, moreover, on which Brigham Young seemed particularly par-ticularly eager to give advice the importance im-portance of thrift, honest toil, and sensible sen-sible dress for women. Thrift RaMt fraJac t Even though he amassed a huge fortune g2.SO0.OO0 at hia death he ever forgot the Importance hia early poverty had given to the virtue of thrift. I T. have tried continually to get this people to pursue a course that will snake these or If -sustaining, taking car f the poor, the lame, the halt aad the blind, hfttng th ignorant from where hey have no opportunity of serving the way f the world and of understand, under-stand, ng the common knowledge possessed pos-sessed among the children of men, bringing these together from the four quarters of the world and making Of them an Intelligent, thrifty and elf-sustaining people," be said ia one f hia discourse. LOnce, observing a group of snea unging in a courtroom hi had hi tlerk obtain their names. Shortly ater each of th idler was sent on a ..i to colonize a new locality or obtain converts. "Your time is all the capital that God has given you." President Young said, "and if you waste that you atr bankrupt indeed." Women'a Dree R"former When the privation of the first few years had lessened and the p oneers had become "city folks," President Young found frequent occasions to air his views on feminine dress. "I am ashamed to see the tight clothes, to see the ahape of the ladiea, he complained. "Tf a woman la dean In person and haa on a nice clean dress, she look a great deal better washing her dishes or sweeping her house than those who walk the streets with their spanker Jib frying." He even went so far a to design a costume for women, but met lea success here than in most of his enterprises. en-terprises. Famine. Indians, drouth, difficulties f transportation, all mad the tint . few years of Utah history difficult period for every resident of the territory. ter-ritory. But through it all. It waa Brigham Young who took the lead as keeping p the spirits of his church members, and there were few her then who did not belong to the L. D. S. church. "We are (till oa th backbone of the animal, where th bone and sinew are. and we intend ta stay here," he asserted. And stay they did. Indians were troublesome at times, but Brigham Young's policy was ta feed them rather thaa fight them, and with the timely help at the state militia mi-litia and federal soldiers. Utah waa freed of this menace by the hate '60' a. Discovery of gold la California I Continue ea Pace BO j" ' vr t it v -"", i II . -Sa A W :' '-. . - I" - -a,! 4 UTAH'S OWN WHITE HOUSE Lett famous than retidencet ttiD pretemred, Pretident Youeiq't Whit housa. MiH in It S3 wW the) Vk dub stanch, wat kit home) til hit death. ' I . m 1 f- v. - . . ... ! ! ! " : I . PRESIDENT YOUNG'S EAST SOUTH TEMPLE "DOMAIN" . r?J. V'Il lH1 C!V"$ bout ,877- C,ntw .ground L D. S. church historian', offic. on sit. of th. modern M.di- ArH bW'9- Jo th. right it th. famed Gardo hous.. b.tt.r known "Am.nY, PaUc." whero visiting dignitari., wer. .ntert.ined. Acrost South T.mplo tr.ot ar. (I.ft to right) th. Lion hous. Beehiv. home, family tchoolhout. nd th. Whit. hous.. Barn of Daniel H. W.lls. one-time city mayor, is seen in lower left corner, wher. Templeton building now stands. j Church Leader Sponsored Home Industry (Continued from Pm Four) proved a combined blessing and trial to Brigham Young. Westward rushing rush-ing goldseekera, eager to lighten their load for the last stretch, told goods to Utahna at far less than cost to augment the scanty stores in the new settlements. President Toung was hard put, though, to prevent some of th. Utah settlers Joining in the "get rich quick" expeditions. Discourage Mining pensive luxuries which can only be obtained by Involving yourself in debt Let bom. Industry produce every article ar-ticle of home consumption." For years he worked for establishment establish-ment of a transcontinental railroad, and when the Union Pacific was built he took a contract to grade for the line through Echo and Weber canyons. More than two years before this he started the Deseret Telegraph company com-pany functioning. halt (the development of independent businesses, it did result in making the chureh leaders also leaders of "big business." Planned Public Works Th L D. & church'! modern security se-curity program and the works program) pro-gram) of the government had a predecessor prede-cessor in th. activities of Brigham Young, who, when he organized char- i ity, preferred to do It by means of work. "Some have asked me to explain why we built an adobe wall around the city," he one. said. "I build walls, big ditches, make bridges and do a great amount and variety of labor that is of little consequence only to provide pro-vide ways and mean, for sustaining and preserving th. destitute ..I annually an-nually spend hundreds of thousands ContlntM4 on Following Peso) What use la gold when you have enough to eat, drink and wear without it." he argued. "It demoralises any community or nation on earth to give them gold and silver to their heart's content. But give them Iron and coal, good hard work and plenty to eat, good schools and good doctrine and it will make them a healthy, wealthy and happy people." t He was afraid, too, of the effects of ever early development of Utah's own mineral wealth. "We cannot eat gold and silver." he told his people. "We need bread and clothing first. Neither do we want to bring here a roving, reckless frontier population to drive us again from our . hard earned homes. Let mining go for the present until we are strong enough to take care of ourselves, and meantime mean-time let us devote ourselves to farming, farm-ing, stockraising and manufacturing those health-giving pursuits that lie at the basis of every state's prosperity." pros-perity." H. was not backward about moving to organise other activities, however. As early as 18 Governor Young sent this message to the territorial legislature: leg-islature: "Produce what you consume. Draw from the native elements the necessities neces-sities of life. Permit not vitiated taste to lead you to indulgence In ex- Launeneo: . u .U L On. of his greatest commercial achievements waa the formation of the mammoth, at least for those days, Zion's Cooperative Mercantile association. associa-tion. From earliest pioneer days Brigham Young had fostered the cooperative ideal that all the settlers were one big family in Utah, with himself as the paternal ruler. Even land was farmed in a common com-mon field at first. With the development of merchandising merchan-dising and manufacturing, particularly on the part of the emigrating non-Mormon non-Mormon element in the population, a conflict developed between Brigham Young's policies and individualistic "big business." Coming of the railroad and the resulting re-sulting stimulus to trade would increase in-crease this difficulty, Brigham Young realised, unless some means could be effected to keep step with prograsa and yet not slacken the hold of the church leaders. A system of chain stores was projected pro-jected with assurance that such a setup set-up would reduce prices and put the dividends into the general pocket instead in-stead of those of the most enterprising enterpris-ing merchants. In most sections of the state cooperative co-operative stores sprung up, and even though in time the effort failed to J f " r V WITH A FAMOUS FUTURE BEFORE HIM Brigham Young, with hit wif. Margaret Pierce Young, as h. appeared bout th. tim. th. pioneers cam. toj Utah. This it on. of th. f.w remaining photograph of Governor Young wit i any of hit family. . f .... . v- , , St- V- He Organized Firt Colleges (Continued from Pwedlnn, Pax of dollars almost solely to furnish employment to those in want of labor." la-bor." A man who read little himself and who did not care overmuch for learning learn-ing which did not have a practical usefulness. President Young was still the vital force, in the establishment of the school system of. which Utah is justly proud. He established the University of Utah, though it was called Deseret then, in 1850, and also founded Brig-ham Brig-ham Young academy at Provo, Brig-ham Brig-ham Young college at Logan, and was planning for a Young university in Salt Lake City at his death. The trust deed that gave Brigham Young college 10.000 acres of land provided pro-vided that no text book should be used which misrep'resented or spoke lightly of "the divine mission of our Savior or of the Prophet Joseph Smith." . Hi also provided for Instruction in religion and manual training. Despite all the time he devoted to other activities, never did Brighnm Young forget that he was spiritual loader of his people. He paid particular par-ticular attention to the sending out of missionaries to obtain new converts, con-verts, and one of his last acts was the dedication in 1877 of the St. George temple, first completed by the Saints Aince leaving Nauvoo. He launched construction of the Salt Lake City temple in 1853, but did not live to see it completed. Wives Cawied Speculation Any study of Brigham Young would be incomplete without some mention of his family life, particularly his wives. In his own day and since the number num-ber of marital partners Brigham Young had taken unto himself was a matter of speculation the country over, and he rather whetted the curiosity cu-riosity by saying nothing. Church genealogical records show he had 27 wives, while his children numbered num-bered 56. Nearly all his wives lived in the Beehive and Lion houses. Devoted to his family. President SEVEN OF BRIGHAM YOUNG'S WIVES This picture of group of the 27 wivei who made the name of Utah's firs! founder almost a legend wa taVen more than 20 yeart after hit death. Left to right, they are: Front row Margaret Pierce Young, Zina D. Huntington Young, Emily Partridge Young and Harriet Barney Young. Rear row Naomi Twiss Young, Lucy Bigelow Young and Amelia Fol-som Fol-som Young. I Young held daily prayer meet ngs with them. Should any of the young men who courted the Young daughter fail to leave by 10 p. m. the president would walk into the parlor carrying an armful arm-ful of hata and ask each to identify his own. If ever one man "built a common- wealth, Brigham Young built Utah, and during the closing years of his life he saw the territory grow to support sup-port a population of more than 100,-000 100,-000 persons. j He kept busy until the end, though, believing that "when man is industrious indus-trious and righteous he's happy." His maxim was "Do not oppose when you cannot Improve," but few were the things he could not Improve. Asked once by visitor If he was a prophet. President Young pushed back the tall hat that he always wore in public and replied: "I am of profit to my people." And the years have proved that statement prophetic. |