Show editor deseret hewat hews blat blut city Is situated on oa the ban san juan river biver fifteen miles of the arizona line and forty miles east of the colorado line two hundred and thirty eight miles south bouth of salt lake city and one hundred and thirty two east at an altitude of feet above sea level levei elsh Eish teen miles up the liver ilver and nearly due east is the settlement ol of montezuma nasf whilo white eighty miles further farther up op the river and in the edge of now mexico le Is the settlement Fett teU lement ot ol bum ham these three settlements with a few scattered families along the river and on the form the ban juan baabe presided over by platte flatte D lyman at montezuma there are only seven families located at intervals over a distance of seven miles milca they hav esome good land and much that Is ia not so good their supply of water to is by means of water wheels holit hoisting hing fing tho the apter from the san ban juan river at bluff city there are aro about 35 families principally from iron and garfield count counties ies iez utah who located here about four years ago possibly double that number of people have at times resided here but for various reasons have moved to different dlf dif feren t local ties the climate hero here la Is warm and pleasant in fact almost everything that could be desired in that direction corn melons tomatoes and all classes of cere cerha cereals als maturing to a good advantage wll wil with th the tho exception of irish potatoes 4 which do not seem heem to do the best beat sweet pota potatoes toen would doubtless doubt lees grow finely the nearest baw saw timber la Is in the blue mountains 40 miles distant fire wood and house logs of cottonwood can bs ba obtained along the river a fine article of cf sandstone bands gands tono la Is easily obtainable and in great quantities the soll soli as a rule Is ia good though in kome lome localities up and down the river la Is baren and not susceptible of cultivation the entire formation be ing more or less of band ernd making it very difficult to travel trave l aa 3 the sand Is ie deop deep and heavy the wind whid will fill up the wagon tracks almost as aa boen soen as made in certain seasons of the year their thair general supply of water Is obtained by means menna of a ditch come comb seven miles long one of tho the most stapen stupendous dous undertakings that has been accomplished by the same esmo number of people in the history of the settlement of the saint salute very much or of tho distance dla dib tance bad to be dug with a spade as owing to the nature of the ground it could not ho be plowed or scraped rods of the tile ditch la built bulit in the river by erecting log cribs filling fining them uli ull full of atone 1 ald find hauling earth to build the bide aide next ext the river the bank of the niver niven forming the other ether side of the ditch a great greal amount of blasting had to bj performed aud and boulders weighing many mady tons were in thib this way removed A portion of the ditch runs along the foot afan of an overhanging cliff from whose summit and sides large boulders roll down and sweep away the ditch below or find a reat ing place in it thus stopping stop pling the flow of water brother lyman stated that during the irrigation season beason guards patrolled the ditch and at the tho same time pointed out some boulders from the biza bize of a wagon bed to a two house houte that ha hai haj 1 rolled down which would seem to indicate that the guards had been remiss in their duty or even not possessed of sufficient power and authority kostop to stop them forty thousand dollars clo llo iiara llara hiis hns been expended on this ditch and on another which proved a failure making in alj ail expended by a little handful of men raen and women in the endeavor to reclaim this desert and isolated spot the land brought brough t un uli der cultivation has bas coat about 36 per acre the nearest railroad tation station fc la Is miles durango on the D R 0 B R B R and requires from ten to fifteen days to make makke the trip loaded all the lumber flour and dalza used need has to be brought from the B R B R as tho saints paints are not yet blessed with either saw or grist griat mills A two days meeting was hold which was well attended by the tho saints and a spirit of unions union love and find manifested that spoke volumes in praise of the truly good people of san juan kotake very much credit is due president P D lyman layman bishop nielsen and others of the brethren and sisters who have led jed out in tile the arduous undertaking of locating settlements tle ments on this river they are on the tha border of cf both lodth the navajo and uto reservations and in daily communication with the red men using all their influence to cause them to quit their evil practices and learn habits of indus industry honesty and virtue in all of which they are very much deficient clent and sadly in need of cf instruction the indians themselves easily detect the difference between the mormon and 66 american rett set fers ferb and always speak of the tho former as aa their friends sud and trust implicitly in thoin thein honesty when introducing one of the brethren to any new now acquaintance they always ask three important points of recommend aud nud these are that tuat the mormons cormons Mor mons tell the truth do not get geu drunk and will not interi ere era with the indian women when the settlements were first farst established they would not permit their women to visit among the set let tiera tiers alone but of late they send fend the women to the store to obtain sup plies or trade without let or hind francc showing that they are dally daily gaining confidence in the balnis saints who have come to be their neighbors after a pleasant of four days we bid the good folks of bluff city good bye and started on our oar return to the railroad leaving at 4 pm wo we traveled thirty miles before going into ca camp m p which was made at the point where the thu durango road leaves the sau bau juan river kiver monday forenoon wo we made a dry drive of 30 miles mils and arrived at navajo springs driving from there thera to matchell butchell Ml DU springs for night camp passing on the way aztec springs where there are leomo bome home extensive ruins rains tuesday forenoon drove to the maneca and were kindly entertained by brother brom mier fier and bister slater roberts who did all they could to make us ua comfortable during the two days drive we parsed through montezuma Montez uma umu valley which hab bab some very vory fine land but is ia destitute of water writer which can on only ly be obtained by bringing the tha waturs waters of the doores door 03 neres aeres the divide i it at a heavy expense or by menus menns of artesian which beems the most feasible on the manross fin nna crops of small email grain aud and potatoes wc were re this seeba season and that portion of the country has a bright prospect before it arriving within two miles of durango we camped for the night and on the morrow from the friends there and took train for denyer denver brother jno ailen alien jr brought us from his place to durango a distance of miles in a little over two days and in various waya waja assisted in making our journey peasant and agreeable yours youra truly JOHN jonn MORGAN |