| Show J AN ANSWER TO SEVERAL severan everal everan QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO THE HISTORY AND DOCTRINE OF THE uhe LATTER DAY SAINTS AND tile TIIE THE settlement AND PROGRESS OF utan UTAH TERRITORY BY GEO A SUIT SMITH 11 continued territorial legislature AND contentions at the first session of the territorial legislature held 1851 2 in hi salt lake city memorials to congress were adopted praying for the abe construction of a national central railroad and also a telegraph line from irom the missouri river via salt lake city to the pacific the legislature continued to memorialize congress from time to time on these subjects until a telegraph raph line was established eon con connecting g the atlantic and the pacific coasts and the great national central railroad so long desired is now rapidly following in its wake the territorial legislature in december 1855 passed an act providing for holding a convention to form and adopt a 4 constitution for the territory 0 ry with a view to its admission into the union as a state the convention met in M march a reh and adopted a constitution under the name and style of 0 the state of deseret and a memorial to congress which were submitted to the people and unanimously approved and were presented to congress by the delegate hon john M bernhisel in 1860 1862 another convention was held which re adopted with slight amendments the constitution of 1850 1856 which was again submitted to the people and approved approve d A state government was organized gani zed and the general assembly met and elected hons geo Q cannon and wm win H hooper senators to congress 1 who went to washington and endeavored unsuccessfully to gain admission as a state S gate tate DELEGATES IN CONGRESS the territorial delegate from 1851 to 1859 and from 1861 to 1863 was hon johnm john BL bernhisel Bern hisel bisel from 1663 1863 to 1865 hon john F kinney from 1859 to 1861 and from 1865 to 1867 hon wm win H hooper who is the present delegate AREA agriculture ETC OP OF utan UTAH utah extends from the parallel of north latitude to the and from the to the degree of longitude the area is about square miles the proportion of land susceptible of cultivation is vory very v small the general character of the territory being that of mountain and desert the agri cultural society in 1866 reported about acres under cultivation some tracts of land apparently fine rich soil of superior quality fall fail to produce crops owing to the superabundance of alkali and other mineral substances which encrusts the surface of the earth the agriculture of the country is carried on at a heavy expense incurred by irrigation the land hav having generally to be watered several tim times ento to produce wheat wheat and barley and oftener for indian corn and roots the necessity of irrigation entails a continual expense upon the agriculturist in cleaning out ditches and canals and repairing dams on much of the soil the ditches have to be cleaned out twice a year good wheat corn and vegetables may be produced in abundance if carefully irrigated the following tables of the expense of the main irra irrigating gating canals and the amount of land irrigated by the same and agricultural statistics for 1865 serve to show although very incomplete the cost as also the success attending a agricultural cultural industry in utah number of canals total lengthen ieng long thin rods cost of construction including dams number of acres irrigated estimated cost of canals in P progress r a s 1 P CD w 0 1 s s Z 01 S a a 0 0 1 i t i go P a n 5 er ca C wheat w 13 I ca P 1 n a 01 8 1 baley barley 1 1 i a 01 ca M oats V tt 3 corn 0 ac g meadow 3 CO a a M 1 2421 sundry small crops PS s 9 ja ca cotton 0 9 3 2588 sorghum OS a M 4 potatoes h 1 ca T ca C oki el 1 I 1 us I 1 beets ff a V ca 1 M 21 I S 41 I 1 carrots about saw aud 70 grist grisa mills are in operation and three woolen and three cotton mills PUBLIC BUILDINGS amongst st the public buildings there are the deseret deseret state house erected in 1849 50 in salt lake city which has been occupied by the legislature for about sixteen years and is now used for fon fora a commercial college the utah territorial house houseas Hou seat sent at fillmore city the tabernacle in salt sait lake city a building 64 x arched without a column the new tabernacle x so feet high oval in form without a column built on stone pillars 22 00 feet high I 1 the roof being latticework lattice work of red pine timber and with kallery yet to be constructed ted will contain people also the court house a well finished building 40 x 55 65 the city hall 60 x 60 built of stone at a cost of with clock and bell the theatre including addition is is so 80 by feet 46 feet high inside there are many imposing edifices in the settlements principally meeting houses and county buildings COMMON collmon SCHOOLS ft according to the report of robert L campbell superintendent of common schools there are school districts in the territory with a school population children between 4 and 16 10 years of upwards of 09 out of which 58 percent are enrolled in school schedules the actual attendance being about 4 42 per cent the public lands donated by congress to states and territories in the absence of a land office have not been available hence there is no public school fund schools however are genero generous ly supported by the people salt lake city is divided into twenty one school districts with a good public school house in each some districts h having ving ahr three e ean enn and d four schools besides w which there are private schools and two academies and two commercial colleges newspapers THE ane DESERET NEWS weekly and semiweekly semi weekly and daily edited by george Q cannon issue copies the juvenile instructor also edited by george Q cannon issue copies semimonthly semi monthly the silt bait lake daliy dally telegraph also semiweekly telegraph grav gray h T h B H stenhouse esar editor and proprietor and the utah magazine edited by E L T Harriso Harrlson nare are bublis published in salt sait lake city and the rio io virgen en limes times edited and published by joseph josep E johnson at st george in washings ashing ton county elder willard richards one of the first presidency chulch church historian and editor of the DESERET NEWS died at his residence maru y n salt lake city on the 11 lith th of march 1856 1850 and was succeeded by elder Jed jedediah edlah morgan grant as S second counselor to prest young patriarch john smith died may 1854 at his residence in salt lake city and was succeeded by john smith son of hyrum choh who was set apart to the office of pa patriarch tr arc feb 1855 elder Jed jedediah edlah morgan grant died dec dee 1856 1656 at his me residence in salt lake city Cit yand and on the ath day of january 1857 isider elder eider daniel H wells was chosen to fill the vacancy thus caused in the quorum of the first presidency elder heber chase Kimball first counselor to prest young died june 1868 at his residence in salt lake city and at the conference of oct ath 1868 elder george albert smith was appointed pa anted to succeed elder kimball in the office of first counselor to prest young INDIAN OUTRAGES OUT rapes BApES the course adopted towards the indians in utah has been the peaceful policy of feeding and clothing in preference to fighting them A vast amount of labor and means have been expended in locating farms supplying implements and teaching the art of of husbandry to the indians throughout the territory which alone has been a very heavy tax upon the popie people almost every difficulty which has existed or arisen between the citizens of the territory and th tho the Q indians has been the result of reckless and barbarous treatment by emigrants passing through the territory and several times by indiscreet and foolish persons residing therein A portion of the utes located in utah valley became hostile in the spring of 1859 in consequence of one of their n umber number being killed which was unknown to the authorities of the provisional state for some time this war resulted in the death of joseph higbee the wounding of several others the expenditure pend iture of thousands of dollars in a cam campaign alan suspension of labor labori and stoc stock driven oft ott or destroyed in the fall of 1850 the indians in the northern part of the territory were also hostile from similar causes A party of emigrants from missouri who were encamped on the malad shot several squaws squads who were crossing the stream on horseback horse back and took their horses they then continued their journey westward when this fact came to the knowledge of the warriors they made a descent upon the northern settlements killing mr campbell who was engaged in erecting a mill in a short time a company of volunteers were on the spot and ascertaining the cause of the difficulty through some friendly indians succeeded in rest restoring r in by paying ing the indians for t the he 0 au squawk aws who ea had Z been killed and the horses that had been taken off and by this means avoid avold a voided further bloodshed in 1853 a person aberson a passion struck an indian which resulted in his death a war ensued which continued about one year in which a number of persons were killed several flourishing settlements on the frontiers had to be abandoned and were burned by the indians in this war several mountaineers and traders took a lively part in aiding alding the indians with ammunition and supplies the murder of capt J W gunnison and party by the antes which mccu occurred r red in november 1853 was the direct result of the conduct of a party of emigrants from the states on their way to california who killed a Pali Pah vante indian and wounded two others at corn creek a short time previously according to the indian rule of revenge the massacre of the next white men found on their grounds was the consequence in ln the settlement of new valleys pres brigham young and the leading authorities of the church have invariably counseled the settlers to build forts and locate themselves in sufficient numbers and in such a manner that when indians were disposed to commit depre lations they would be able to secure their families and their stock april ath 1865 several indians visited manti mantl sanpete county they wanted a big talk and boasted of having killed fifteen head of cattle within a few d days ays i john lowry lowny of manti mantl hearing this b boast quarreled with the indians and drew jake 2 son of the late chief Arrow pene from his horse by the hair of the head and went home for his revolver to shoot jake who disappeared immediately next day sev seN several beveral terai leral of the citizens of manti rode out to the range to find if the boasts of the indians 7 about killing their cattle were true clien glien when they were confronted by the in indians lans ians who fired upon them kil kii killing linga a young man named peter ludvickson Ludvic ksen the indians retired up salt creek canion cannon into sevier county where they found E B ward and jas anderson in charge of cattle whom they also killed A party f started darted on the tho th 0 in 1 n pursuit of a f the indians and the cattle which they had taken with them this party was overpowered by the indians and two of their number wm vm kearns and jens sorensen were killed may the indians made a descent upon a family named given cwiran CG giran iran in thistle valley twelve miles from fairview in sanpete county and massacred the father mother and four children having the evening previous killed jens larsen on the they also killed david H jones in july robert bobert gillespie and robinson were killed and several citizens zens zons a wounded T these bese indian massacres which were generally accompanied by raids on cattle cattie rendered it necessary for the inhabitants of sanpete San pete sevier bevier plute pluto millard iron beaver kane and washington counties to guard their stock with mounted armed men in january 1866 a band of indians made a descent upon the pipe spring ranch in kane county killing J M whitmore the proprietor and robert mcinty mcintyre rean and robbing the ranch of cattle and sheep shee the T he ranche rancho of pah reah was also ro robbed be d and besieged for several months peter e t er shirts barrica ded his house and by strategy and unceasing vigilance with the aid of his famil family managed to evade the blow calmelat aimed almed at him until relieved by captain james andrus and a company of mounted volunteers from grafton april 2nd and robert berry and wife with his brother joseph I 1 were waylaid and massacred at short creek kane county on the albert lewis was killed and three persons wounded near marys vale plute county and on the thomas jones was killed and wm avery wounded at Fairview in sanpete county on the loth of june the indians made a raid on round valley driving away three hundred head of cattle and horses and killing father james ivie and henry wright on the charles brown was killed and thomas thonas snarr wounded in thistle valley and while recovering the horses ana and cattle driven off from the spanish fork pasture john edmiston of manti mantl was killed and A Dimick of spring wile elle ville badly wounded early in 1867 the continued hostile intentions of the indians was announced in the massacre of james P petersen hit his wife and daughter near glenwood sevier county who were mutilated in the most horrible manner the vigilance of the militia of these counties assisted by detachments from counties as far north as salt lake and davis so durin burin far held the indians in check that aurin during the entire year there were only turee three other citizens killed and three of the militia viz lewis lund james meek and andrew johansen and maj major or vance sergeant heber C V houtz and private john hay in consequence of these indian raids 1 and massacres the counties of plute and sevier were entirely abandoned as well as the settlements of berrysville ae winsor upper and lower kanab shunesburg Shu springdale ringdale Sp and northup and many ranches in kane county also the settlements of Pang witch and fort sandford in iron county FOREIGN MISSIONS joseph smith the prophet enjoined upon U 0 n the twelve apostles that they 20 should u id preach the gospel to all the nations of the earth and wherever they could not go to send the same that all nations might be faithfully warned of the restoration of the everlasting gospel in all its purity and falness for the salvation of mankind and the near advent of the messiah preparatory to the introduction of his reign of righteousness upon the earth england in june 1837 elders heber I 1 0 kimball orson hyde willard richards kle Kic hards joseph fielding and three others went to england and ocene opened d the door of the gospel to great britain commencing their labors in preston lancashire I 1 ca shire and extended them to diorent different parts of the kingdom where they bap sized about fifteen hundred persons elders kimball and ani hyde hydo returned to america in april 1838 leaving elders joseph fielding and willard richard richards elch Eich ards S in charge of the mission in 1840 prest brigham young he ber 0 kimball P P pratt orson pratt john taylor wilford goodruff woodruff and george geor ge A smith smith of the quorum of the twelve apostles proceeded to england and ordained willard richards an apostle he having been previously called to that office by revelation they preached one year and fourteen days introducing the work of god in the british islands and establishing branches of the church in many of the principal cities from london to edinburgh they established a printing office and an emigration agency gency a published the book of 31 ormon doctrine and covenants and hymn book and issued sixty thousand pham and the first volume of the millennial star the brethren of the twelve apostles returned leaving eider P P pratt to preside over |
