| Show clemm DENVER DE colorado t august 20 1879 1679 deseret nguu ngen oa 04 the fast last I 1 jel jet sait salt lake like ty with writh elder john morgan llo agan on a flying visit to the colony of our people eople now locating in ban san luis valley vailey valley on the bio rio grande in southern colorado our oar route was by the TJ P B R B R to cheyenne thence over the colorado central to denver and from that capital to pueblo and All ail ballmoss mosa moss over the denver and rio grande narrow guage the whole distance about miles we were met bret at All xii mosa on our arrival at p m of the ad by bishop hang hana jensen and brother Bp roase rouse who conveyed ua us on the following day over a level fertile plain 20 miles to the new now town of marossa man Mau ossa we held meeting with the saints there on sunday monday and tuesday which were well atten attended dd by many outsiders as well as our own people and we had an enjoyable time the saints had been long expecting ua us and were much edified and refreshed by our visit on tuesday some dozen or fifteen were baptized and confirmed about half being first and the other half re baptisms we revisited visited in the meantime most et of the tami jami liea ilea of 0 saints and a few mexican living in that region and on wednesday the visited the site alte of ephraim and the ranch of elder john allan across conejos siverand Biver river and returned to alamida Al amisa where we held meeting in the evening bingin in a large hall ball this morning I 1 bid adieu to elders morgan jen jan een vien bertlesen Bertle bertie ben een and others and start ed on my ray return trip accompanied by ex governor hunt who hass has been largely instrumental in constructing ting this thia pioneer narrow guage road and not only encouraging our emigrants to locate here bete but otherwise largely contributing to the development of this region of colorado denver is truly a thrifty enterprising ter town as Is also the northern and central portions of the state her merchants are anter enterprising terp terr ter oer her ber farmers tb thrifty tilty her miners untiring and pro prospectors almost her raili roads roada me die being pushed with a vim into the ube various mining centres cen tree tres at present pleasure seekers are thronging her hotels watering places and mountain celebrities we were about 13 hours riding miles over the tha narrow guage road from denver to ot of which were consumed in crossing the mountain from rom leveter to placer a distance of 13 miles rising to feet above sea level and at timea to the mi mlle mile lewith with numerous curves BO so sharp as to resemble a twisted mule shoe A heavy engine Is kept at the foot of the leveter pass to take the tho trains over but necessarily moves slow either up or down on account atthe sharp curves as well as heavy grade the san liuis luis valley valloy is 80 to miles long and in its greatest breadth is not jess than 50 the rio bio grande enters it from the weep ing around to the southeast and bouth south passing into and through new mexico it rec receives elyes elvea from the southwest rock creek behora conejos and ban san antonio rivers and several others from the north and east sides which supply san luis liuia valley with zith water the st streams reamis are all 1 lower w r now than they have been for many years but the vast amount of hay bay land tand fand and numerous bayous I 1 and bide aide channels show that ordinarily the valley is liberally watered the rio grande and all ali its tributaries tributa ries in this valley have gravel beds and run near the surface and can be carried aver the land at comparatively little expense a the plain for such it really is inclines with wi th the general course of the streams and just enough to irrigate freely without washing in bome some places it is slightly uneven but generally quite level and smooth surface the soil soll though varied seems generally good in some places it is clay covered with greasewood at others sandy loam somewhat mixed with clay and covered with rabbit brush and other places vast bottoms covered with wire grays grass and other kinds incident to moist lands in utah the townsite of manassa and its vicinity has gravel enough upon ita its surface to prevent the land from baking while it adds warmth to the boil soil it draws it water supply ply from the north branch of conejos biver river and is situated prominently in the plain about one and a half miles lies west of the main stream the saints crop sere bere generally light on account of being sown I 1 late at in may and often fed down with stock before being fenced though older places visited where crops were timely put in both grain and vegetables of all kinds were excellent good water is obtained in wells from eight to 12 feet feer the valley has few inhabitants and far between I 1 lam iam am homeward bound BO so adieu till we meet E SNOW pima co arizona aug 18 1879 editors deveret news we are situated in the lower or big gila valley the valley is from 60 50 to 60 miles in length and from six to ten miles in width the river runs the whole length of the valley from southeast to northwest there ia Is plenty of good rich land and plenty of water for irrigation there are ten families here now and some of the brethren have gone back to utah for their families this is a good count of course there are bome some drawbacks timber and lumber are scarce but firewood is plentiful we can raise two crops per year of almost everything the climate ia is pretty warm but wo we do not perceive that it ia is any warmer now than it was two months ago we have a nice col cool coi breeze every day we celebrated the ath and of july aa us well as we could and had a pretty good time we are getting along as well aa as can cam be elpi expected bated beted and with the blessings of god we expect to make a good here WM K R P S we have sunday and meeting regularly every eveny sunday thele there ia Is a tri til weekly mail here hera your valuable paper comes cornea regularly y every week and la is a great blessing to us |
