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Show mm Limmn PAGE SIX THE STORY OF THE WEST note: Th following He of artlrUs, appearing under head, some of which have already appeared In the columns of lUe Journal, are released through courtesy of the Utah Historical Landmarks association, 806 New house Bldg., Balt Lake City, Utah. flit Editor Moving west was nothing newto first established themselves near Palmyra, New York; then at Kirtland, Ohio, next in Jackson county Missouri; for a few year in Nauvoo, Illinois and then temporarily at Florence, ns, t. Nebraska, Due to their plan of colonization and settlement, it was necessary to have a line of communication from the east to y the west and they did mt, therefore, entirely sever ever occupied. place they it may be truly Within a period of twentjyears, 1830-5said that they covered the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, maintaining an emigration establishment in New York, a colonization project in San Bernardino, California, with mobile headquarters and many supply stations between eastern and western points, A Jarge part of 1846 was consumed in traveling across southern Iowa, with stops for weeks or even months at Mt Pisgah and other places. Winter Quarters, oh the present site of Florence, Neb., near Omaha, was established in the Animals, equipment and supplies were winter of 1846-4purchased; Jonathan Browning made new guns and repaired connec-witlran- 0, i , v $$ 7. the old ones. i Everything wa3 in readiness when 143 men, three women, two children and three colored servants, with 73 wagons, livestock and supplies, set out from Winter Quarters under the leadership of Brigham Young on March 14, 1847. Young anticipated a later heavy Mormon migration. The route along the north side of the South Platte river was worn deep bv thousands of wagons which passed over it of, prior to 1847' and the grass was grazed close by hundredswas route Selected, therefore, animals. The of thousands along the north side of the North Platt river, where feed was more abundant and there was less inerference with their , migration. Pacific Union y of the occupies the The Mormon Trail at intervals from Omaha through Fremont and in places as far west as North Platte, From North Platte the old route ran dose to Scotts Bluff, through Old Fort Laramie, Casper, past Independence Rock and Devils Gate, ' . to Split Rock. The Sweetwater was closely followed as far as the present site of Burnt Ranch. At Burnt Ranch, the road turned sharply up the hill to the left over South Pass, through Pacific Springs, Farson along the Big Sandy through Church Buttes to Fort Bridger. From Fort Bridger the trail ran south of the present town of Evanston and entered Echo canyon just below its upper end. A monument there indicates the junction of the road with the Lincoln highway. old emigrant i J p The Mormons followed Echo canyon to the present site of Echo, down Weber canyon to Henefer, along Browns "'creek," through East canyon, then over Big Mountain and Little Mountain into Emigration canyon. From Fort Bridger, they followed in the tracks of Hastings and the Donners as far as the present town of Henefer; from that point over a road made the year before by the Donners from Henefer to ' : ' Salt Lake City. When the Mormons arrived in Salt Lake valley, Miles Goodyear was carrying ojl indifferent farming , and some trading near Ogden His rights were purchased for three thousand dollars and he moved on with his retinue of trappers, traders and Indians, A Mexican subject was living near Bluff dale, south of Salt Lake City, when the Mormons arrived in Salt Lake valley. After the Mexican government ceded Utah, this mans rights, presumably obtained under a Mexican land grant, were purchased by Hunter and Beckstead, ;While there would be no difficulty in writing biographies i right-of-wa- 5 , Kn -- I M 11 V L jfpTOminentRien-C0Rneet&d-wlth---thfe--PriginaL.3Iorm- ti f migration of 1847, Brigham Young is historically the over' shadowing character, From the scholastic viewpoint, however, Orson Pratt was perhaps the most distinguished of the original pioneers. He was born in Washington county, New York, in 1911 and Latter-da- y Saints early in life identified himself with the church, ' . He was a member 6f the first Company of Ten which left Winter Quarters in 1847, and narrated events along the road ; latitudes, longitudes and altitudes were' determined ' ' '' by him. and was intellectually active mind brilliant a He possessed and made many literary, scientific and mathematical contributions after his arrival in Utah, also edited a paper published in the interests of the church in Liverpool and wrote a series of pamphlets on Mormonism. t Perhaps his most unique contribution to literature was a compilation of a first reader, a second reader, book of Nephi and the Book of Mormon, using the Deseret alphabet. His He most pretentious work was the Key to the Universe. established the Great Salt Lake meridian, at the southeast ' corner of the Temple block. Major Howard Egan was another distinguished member of the first party of emigrants. Major Egan kept a diary of his various journeys, which was published under the title of He made several trips from Pioneering the West, 1846-7Salt Lake Citv to California; one route from Salt Lake City west bears his name. Orin Porter Rockwell was the outstanding member of the pioneer company as a scout. An attempted assassination of Governor Boggs occurred at Independence, Missouri on May 6, 1842. Rockwell was charged with making this attempt, although the evidence was never clear. If we can believe General Patrick Edward Connor, the charge did not rest very heavily on Rockwells mind and he is alleged to have told Connor that he shot at Boggs and was damn sorry he didnt kill him. , One of Rockwells greatest exploits was carrying news of the invasion of Utah by Johnsons Army from Fort Laramie to Salt Lake City, a distance of 513 miles, in five days and three hours, . In person, Burton described Rockwell as a- - tall, strong man, with leather leggings overhanging his huge spurs, the of two revolvers peeping from his blouse; he wore long, grizzly locks, plaited and gathered at the nape of his neck; his manners were those of a jovial, English ruffian. Rockwell was a frontiersman and scout not an empire builder. He lacked the impelling intellect of Orson Pratt and the constructive mind of Brigham Young, but he stood guard while they worked. In a safely established society, there was nothing he cared to do and, like many others of his class, he retired to the outer fringes of civilization where ho would not be disturbed by the monotonous niceties of a service dub existence. He had his fling, when, like Kiplings Tommy, he was Porter this and Porter that. History is fairer than those who would obliterate his name. ; fI ' i, iw fa V. t( 41 . -- s 8. saw-handl- es devil-may-ca- i re |