Show REMARKS RE B by y PRESIDENT na GEORGE GE OR GE A delivered in n the nem new ew ta tabernacle er nacle salt sall lake city ii J sun san day J aoler Afler rigo sept ent edt 1873 CY david DAVJD IV AV evins EVANS 1 FOR you the past two weeks it lit lias ilas been my privilege in company with president young and elders eldens john taylor aylor cannon and woodruff and others to travel among and visit the saints in some of the settlements in the northern valleys of this territory and the southern portions of idaho considering 0 the short time since the settle settie ments north of ogden were formed especially those of cache valley vailey and bear lake it seems that great progress has been made in buil bull building ing towns and villa villages geb prepare preparing D M places of worship providing the necessaries or oolite life ilfe and constructing 1 mills roads and bridges so that in a very few years the country has been turned from a desert uninhabited region to one of thrift and plenty while at logan bogan a two days mee meeting t was held on saturday and sunday two weeks ago today to day the people of the tiie valley were in the midst of a very abundant liar vest and their grain had so ripened that the harvest came camo upon them all at once yet the attendance at our meetings was very large jarger in fact than it had ever been illy my pleasure plea piea sure suie to witness in that place before the spirit of the air Ali almighty seemed to be striving a with the people and though they were pressed with the labors of an it n abundant harvest they were on hand alive and rid awake to attend meetings and to perform their duties the changes which have come over this land since wo we first settled in it seem wonderful tile the lin lim t visitors to cache valley pronounced it too cold a country for the cultivation of grain prost frost occurred almost every ever week during the tile summer and the whiten winters were very severe early explorers of or that valley found the thermometer so so low in the summer as to deprive us even of a hope of successful cultivation but settlements were commenced and harming farming was attempted and finally it was concluded that wheat could be grown there it seems however that the brooding ortho spirit of the lord oyer over 1 that land lias ims soften softened eI the climate climate and large crops of many varieties of fruit including the apricot and peach are raised there now I 1 balove believe belleve it esthe is the case universally where the latter day saints have settled in these valleys and commenced their work with faith trust trusting ingin in tho the lord that lie ho has softened the elements and tempered edthe the climate until they arenow are now favorable and year after year more tender vegetation has been introduced I 1 have noticed this in tile the settlements settlement 6 in the sevier valley and in iron county I 1 commenced a settle settie settlement mentin in iron co in january 1851 lor for nine years I 1 attempted to raise peaches in anparo paro wan but they were killed to tile tiie ground every year now yow iron county has become quite a peach growing country I 1 attribute this to the tilo blessie bles bies blessings sin sib of or tile almighty upon tho the bleau element crits and from this bauo altin tit of grain and fruits has lias progressed froin from year to year in greater altitudes until now noir it is successful in lauy localities in the territory where it was formerly impossible two tw 0 years ago I 1 visited the valley of bear niver biver the bear lake country had then been devastated by grasshoppers and it presented a scene of utter desolation the grain and grass crops and all the produce produce of the vegetable kingdom fiad flad had been destroyed within a few das days by an arrival of grasshoppers this season wo we passed into bear lake going part of the way by the new road recently constructed at a cost ot of by the enterprise of bishop 0 J liljenquist and the citizens of hyrum by the stream known as blacksmiths foik fork we followed up this road until we attained an al altitude of feet above the level of the sea then we struck the old huntsville Hunts villo road and went by that to laketown Lake town at the head of bear like this place is probably as delightfully and romantically situa situated tedas as any in the territory it is very near the tilo territorial line and contains about alx aix sixty I 1 t y fa families milie the waters of tho the lako lake are clear and contain abundance of fish and the meadows around the liea head of the lake and in its vicinity are very fine line tile the summits of the mountains are well covered with timber which is not very difficult of access we had two meetings at that place and found round tile tiie people eldoy enjoying ing themselves well we then followed along theowest the wesl west shores of bear lake some thirty miles visiting some small places andl and making a stop at the fine settlement of or st charles where we also had two meetings the purity of the water there the great altitude and aud the he cool climate will when more moie known render that locality a favorite place of resort to travellers trav ellers and pleasure seekers in the short summer season the settlers there raise excellent wheat rye barley oats and heavy crops of potatoes and nd garden vegetable vegetables they have lo 10 watch pretty closely to get got their crops in ill between the spring alid anil fall fail frosts frost the country is covered with a heavy growth of rich grasses the winters are cold there the settlement forms part of one oneida county idaho the survey of the territorial line h having a vin cr cut tut C ut 1 it t onn off from utah in which it was formerly y included st charles lias has sixty or seventy fa families and wants more sett settlers lem iem it is watered alered by a stream called big creek the largest affluent of bear lake a very fine stream something larg larger er than our big cottonwood ton wood and furnishing abundance of water to the settlement tho the brazill grazing g and farming facilities are excellent there and the people seemed to be enjoying themselves exceedingly well andlar and had all they could do to take care of the crops and other temporal comforts with will which eh they were surrounded bear lake ia is about twenty six miles ion lon long iong and about ten miles mile wide it is in a manner two lakes the north end of six mile svein cut oftay off by a kind of embankment or beach the ithe two lakes being connected by a small stream only a few yards in width tile the south part of the lake is very deep and the water pure it has many streams entering into it and many springs about it and is a nursery for lor an immense amount of fish large quantities of which very fine trout and other choice varieties iro lre are ire cau eau caught ht in t heir their seasons tile the stream which leads out of bear lake I 1 think is nine or ten miles long to where it empties into bear biver river the jakc lake bas has generally been called bear river lake from the supposition thab that bear river biver ran through it but this is not the case eal se in lr this respert bear lake is unlike the sea sei of galilee and the river J ordan the jordan runs into one end of the sea of galileo GaIlle cand and lutat out at the other passing right through it but bear lake is at the head of a short ashert stream which empties into near bear river biver along this stream and along bear biver river is a large tract of fine grazing country excellent meadow land which our people are turning to good account there is a very fine town called bloomington on twin creeks containing probably a hundred bundled families and about two or two and a half miles from Blooming bloomington ten is the prin principal princia cip al town in the valley called paris at paris we held three days meeting meetings s in a shade or brov grove e which had 1 been en prepared for that purpose A A largo large eon con gi oration a assembled there and gave strict ab enjoyed exceedingly well all nil seeming very glad to see us after spending these three days ati uti Paris we visited some of the neighboring settlements we had meeting at montpelier mont Munt pelier peller and passing through benn Benu bennington lugton georgetown ovid and some other small settlements wo we visited soda sprino springs where wo we remained a day and a hair half having two meetings with tho the people we then resumed our ja urney journey following down bear river biver camping out on our route until we reached the tile settlement of franklin and thence on to Ri richmond climond smithfield and hyde park holding meeting 3 in each vach yesterday we started from logan and reached home in foul four hours and twelve ini minutes in special trains we bad been gone two weeks and one otle day having travelled two hundred miles by carriages through the mountains hundred miles by railroad J rhe the rho elders of our party scattered among tho the settlements and held hold twenty six meetings we visited the tho sunday Bunday schools and different 1111 brent bront organizations and found them all dalve to their several duties in almost every town we c visited wa we were wre saluted on our arrival by a sunday se school hool wooi children iid iio ho lid turned out by hundreds it almost seemed impossible that bere there could bo be so many children inthe country as came out to meet moet us OP resident president youn young was suf sui summering suffering nering uil on this journey from an all attack or of rheumatism which ren reu rendered rendered dered derod him cili iiii uncomfortable comfortable but still he preached a number of long und and excellent sermons sometimes speaking an hour bourand and twenty minutes he head read addressed all the largo meetings meeting 92 sj 92 and didat did it in more than his ills usual energetic eloquent and interesting style klc and returned from the journey in a better state of health than when he wen went t away for then many of or his f rien dath oughtie lt very doubt he would be abio able to on his journey but lie ho accomplished complis hed it and returned improved for a man of liis his years performing continually as he does a vast amount of labor of both mind and arld body it seems almost miraculous thad thac be could take tako this journey attend so many meetings and councils alid and endure the riding over a country as rough as the tho one we pise passed aldover over oven we were sometimes beven seven or or eight thousand feet above the tho level ot of the sea frequently six thousand and then down to four thousand nive five hundred and so on up and down through valleys and ana hills the roads sidling in many rendering traveling difficult and alid unpleasant though after I 1 had traveled through palestine where re there are really no roads I 1 thought the country we had just passed ph sq over remarkable reman kable kabie for its fine roads wo bore testimony to tilo tile saints of the everlasting gospel tho the plan of salvation alv atlon which was revealed throb through ajoseph hJ joseph oseph smith to this generation era tion wo we found them generally living ilagan liv jin obedience to tho the principles of the gospel and rejoicing in the truth there thero was a marked imp improvement 4 since I 1 travelled through those northern regions before fore in the condition tion of tho bild bridges dei gei and private residences and ansome settlements a large number bebr ve of bf barns have been erected it seems in the tho making ef of the settlements in these valleys that it has beena been a difficult matter for the farmers to provide themselves with buff bumm lelent sufficient bains barns and storehouses store houses they are wanting 1 almost everywhere but some af these northern sott sett settlements iome lome its are arc becoming ve very vory well weli supplied with these outdoor conveniences lii ril nien ces J I 1 am pleased to have tle tie privilege lege of meeting with you again I 1 wish to bear my testimony to the intel esting eating discourse which lits lius has been del dei delivered delliese liere dab to you ou thi this s afternoon ider iden t lder ider john taylor aud and I 1 pray that tiie tile bl blessing esping ot of the tile almighty may b be lo 10 upon us all I 1 feel that his blessing is over al all ali tho tile valleys where the thu saints dwell and inasmuch inas muchas as they will abide in their thir holy faith the faith of the holy gospel live in accordance with tho the principles of truth and the jaw law which god has lias revealed for their salvation tho the lurd burd will bo be their protector erom froin the time that joseph smith took of mormon from the hill hlll cumorah to the present moment the enemy of all righteousness has lias been howling and exercising every means in hla hia power destroy those who believe in book of mormon and who wilo are willing line to follow the instructions co counsels 9 asels which god has given ed the th 0 up building of ills his li ii kingdom 11 dg gid oni tho the last days but they who have been humble and have walked in accordance cor dance with their probes ions have bave been leen upheld and protected and tile the blessing of the alm aim almighty lity las lay has heen been been continually upon them I 1 pray theford th the eLord lord that his blessin blessings g s may rest upon you and that yo you u may rejoice therein that we ve n lay may all be able to walk humbly before him bini keep his ills comm commandments have bave power to overcome and with the faithful be prepared to dwell in his kingdom through jesus our Ile lle deemer redeemer amen |