| Show THE MORMONS AS colonizers THE following which appeared in the phoenix nix arizona gazette as correspondence written at tempe temm may i ath gives a fair idea of the quality of the latter day saints sainte as colonizers of new and undeveloped portions of the country we hear much these days about the mormons cormons Mor mons and their habits industry etc but not many people understand der stand them the writer was here when the mesa mean mormons cormons arrived at their now beautiful surroundings the handful of mormon emigrants who located at mesa as the site of a colony had a keen keau insight into the future the little band consisted of about nine families and a few camp followers after pitching their tents on the river bottom and makin making an aa inventory of their worlds goods good which was comprised chiefly of a few head of stock they went to work with a thorough appreciation of the adage that labor conquers all things doctor dietor jones an old timer and civil engineer surveyed the route of their proposed canal this done the work of cuttin cutting it through rock cement and soft eart barte for a distance of nine miles commenced in decd earnest in the month of february 1878 the total force mustered on the canal for the first few months never went above twelve men yet in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles laboring under the midday blaze of a tropical sun without the shadow of a shade with insufficient food at times for men or boasts beasts that handful of wanderers in search of a permanent abiding place kept on day by day working on the problem lera of turning taming a barren desert into a vast orchard and vineyard to a wealthy company such much an undertaking der taking would be but a trifle in the annals of its transactions transact ious but to those twelve hardy sons of toil who mustered on OD that february day on the banks of the salt river to dig and delve for many a weary day and month it was an undertaking on their part fraught with the weal or woe of their future destinies pluck and perseverance however triumphed over all obstacles and the final I 1 result of nine months labor was the proud satisfaction of seeing water flowing over our present townsite the flow of water was then but a mere trickle to what we have now and what with breakages break ages and rat holes ho I 1 es it required two or three shares of water the first two years of settlement to irrigate a five acre patch in a week takings this into consideration and the fact that with the exception of a few teams left after their long and werry task as well as the little band bei ig financially down to bed rock it is no cause for surprise that but little progress was waa made in improving and cultivating their holdings during the first throe three years of settlement settle nent soon however well to do settlers began to arrive and with the usual generosity gene so proverbial among mor mons mono of aiding one another combined with what the younger members of the family could bring in by freighting the elders managed to start little patches of fruit trees and grape vines which have since and now are am being rapidly ra Aeve developed loped into immense or orchards chars and vineyards and which before many more seasons roll by will pe be proof positive of the mesa being the best fruit growing portion of north america it will be seen from the above that the mesa was almost at a standstill during its first three years of colonization with a canal that required continual repairs a broken exchequer and without a permanent leader such as s they had been used to in the biffle hills and valleys of utah it is surprising indeed that they did not di disperse family by family until they had scattered for far and wide over the coast the early teachings of the founders of their creed frugality sobriety industry and patience came in right Z here to their ald aid and with a grit worthy of tho the cause the colonization of the desert and the spread of their creed they kept on right manfully manful ky in improving and enlarging their canal until they have now one that tat is capable of irrigating acres of land the results of the labors of these theme pioneers can now be daily seen in the grain and hay fields in our orchards rols loaded down with fruit of every description crip tion in our vineyards bearing live five to eight tons of luscious grapes to the acre in our bees producing our honey in our sorghum mills turning out our syrup in our strawberry beds bedi yielding abundantly and on every ranchers table fat looking spuds of his own raising miming and at this season sea on of the year neat cottages on every hand fronted by mazy walks and flower beds scenting the air for rods with a fragrant perfume until one imagines he is in in seme same fairy land instead of sitting under his own cool fig tree |
