| Show L sf S f f f j 3 ST ar Tir THOMAS wrAs march 21 1869 editor of deseret Deser ct nees news the great interest taken by the northern people in the affairs of the aw mission sion slon to this the valley of the muddy the utmost southern limit of the saints present dominion will justify I 1 believe an occasional intrusion on your space by matters matter pertaining to this far off region the general idea prevailing in salt lako about the muddy is that it is a sort of purgatory or place ot of punishment something like the siberia of the russians or the algeria of pranee prance a place no one would occupy if not positively required by irresistible me authority this is doubtless the case with some people who have left the lon ion long iong settled portions of utah reluctantly and an who livo live here hero just to fill the letter of their mission hoping for a chance to turn up to dodge e away honorably released but with those who are desirous of redeeming the desert land rule ruie of jehovah consecrated by their prayers and improved by their labors it is very different it is true that there are many places on earth naturally more inviting to man than this valley yet I 1 doubt whether any place now occupied by the saints in the mountains was much more attractive and desirable at first settlement than this there are advantages hero not enjoyed in any other portions of the saints home for instance wo e can put a crop into the soil anywhere where wo we can irrigate without being compelled to first spend a capital in surrounding tho tha field with a row of sticks or a wall of stone for the very impossibility of procuring fencing compels all to of stock in something like a civilized fashion and though there is more damage su sustained stalled by stock than there should be yet thero there is less of this than in anyplace where fences are relied on for protection it is said that wo we have no wood yet there aro are but few places in the mountains where a man can get a better load of firewood fire wood in a day than he can here although this firewood fa is protected by ten thou thousand poin ards and lances lancea of it its own growth and generally resents an invasion lon pretty thoroughly our climate is excellent cel lent adapted to the maturation of all the fruits that flourish in spain and italy the past winter the mercury seldom des 27 above zero and but once went down to 19 for fora a few moments which was two degrees higher than christmas day ism indicated in orange bearing florida at this date the thermometer shows as at sunrise and 76 at noon lucerne is up 14 inches hi high it vines foliating peach trees shedding C glos gios blossoms and by the time this is printed we shall to be mowing grass on our wild meadows peace prevails in our midst and our labors bo r are directed towards improvement we benave ave avo found a good supply of sulphate of lime answering well for plastering and with building timber in prospect through h the sawmill tobe to be er erected at west point there is a chance of seeing some abode shere sometime which will resemble human habitations st joseph and the places north have concluded to claim being in utah leaving st thomas alone in arizona which dowil wo will 1 I try to endure manfully air our isolation here may not last long as there is a probability of locations beyond ours being C soon improved by our oar people in your issue of the ad no 41 deseree DESERET WEEKLY NEWS I 1 see eliat that mr bertrand still thinks it his duty to give me an occasional flank lilt hit long after he himself has declared our discussion at an end not even disdain disdaining disdaining in to misquote my words as all attentive readers will have observed his pleasure seems to bo be to oppose and contradict my ob object act in wr writing was to degood do good if I 1 have failed there is an apology 0 due duo to the public whose time h has been claimed the spirit of controversy for the tho sake of itself I 1 believe to be inconsistent with the sincere labors labor of a saint for nor the common good and shall cease m my part vart of it leaving the results of practical practical af demonstrations st in future time to decide in thet the e oves eves es of the public those points of dim diN didrence difference ronce rence azat that have been brought into prominence by my desultory remarks on tho the subject 0 viniculture yours respectfully D bonelli |
