| Show EARLY UTAH AND THE PLAINS on the evening of wednesday feb aoth dr H 1 faust addressed the mutual improvement associations of the twenty first ward on early eap exp experiences en i in utah and incidents on the plains a synopsis of his remarks being given herewith the speaker began by remarking that his audience did not look as though they were hunting a camping place where here wood water and grass was plen ty said lit he you look as though you had just left a good camp how different it was with the early settlers of these valleys forty nine years ago let us go back to that beautiful city Niju nauvoo in 1846 situated on the banks of the mississippi river there we find about fifteen thousand people surrounded with comforts of life and comparatively happy these people were were gathered from many of the states as well as from many of the nations of the earth in many instances two from a city and one from a family they must most have been born for the purpose before them if they had not been they never could have bae stood what they did in doming to and settling these valleys these people were surrounded by a mob made up of bad men fanatics mom from other churches and in many in instances led by pretended ministers of thle the gospel these saints were expelled under pain ot death and the burning ot of their city we see them in the month of february when the thermometer stood below zero crossing the mississippi and camping in iowa on sugar creek in th tents it is true that there were nine children born that night who can tell what the sufferings of theve these people must have been take yv yon tonight and let you go over jordan oab your tent make bour bed on the i ground and let the thermometer fall zero then you might have a little taste of what they had amese people started west over the bafik prairies of iowa making the roads as they went ferrying the streams or budig budges bridges as the case required tise the road from nauvoo to council bluffs is called the mormon trail to this day T these people pie could be tracked by the b blood I 1 0 from their feet on the snow their camping grounds were known by the newly made graves just think of yow your lathers fathers mothers brothers or sis tew sick and dying while the wagon was moving along on a rough road when camp was reached they were no more A hasty digging of the grave that night in the morning a hasty funera at the body consigned to its last resting place in the grave unmarked and to be forever forgotten no you will never have to pass through these trials the missouri river was reached and crossed where omaha now stands winter Qa quarters arters was established about six mues m north of the crossing and houses built out of logs sod and tents many of the men went down into missouri to work to get provisions cattle and horses to come west with there was a proposition made by the church leaders to tho government through colonel J C awe to build forts at intervals on the plains sains to protect the emigrants going to oregon regon and california as the emigration thither had then begun but instead the government called on the saints to furnish five hundred men for the mexican war the famous mormon battalion was vas enlisted taking the ablest and best men I 1 hey made one ot of the longest marches ever required of soldiers twenty five hundred miles making the road as they went let us tonight imagine their feelings what must they have been husbands fathers brothers and lovers leaving mothers sisters and sweethearts on the banks of the missouri river without a home and many already in want not knowing that they would ever see each other again in thid lile who will say that they were not all brave that they were not saints who put their trust in their god what the mormon battalion did yuu you can read in history there was sickness and some suffering in the winter ot of 1846 in the spring of 1847 on thet the ath of april president nt young started with that brave band ot of pioneers ol of one oae hundred and forty three souls wit with not nothing i but a compass the setting sun aud and their faith to guidt guide them thein what hat faith they must have possessed The difficulties the indians that beset them on every side and all their troubles must be imagined tor for they cannot be told we have no time this eveni evening sig to follow in their road making river lording or ferrying across the str streams earns or taking their wagons to pieces and carrying them over the mountains piece bece by piece it was this company g that a t hunted the trail across the plains which hundreds of thousands cf PC people ople have traveled over and millions born and yet unborn will travel became the railroad is built mostly along that trail on july 1847 these brave people came out ot of emigration canyon where wilford woodruff came down on to the bench beach land near where the penitentiary ar y is president young alighted from pres president I 1 woodruffs carriage in which he was riding ridin sr sick he took a look around and said drive on this is not the place yet that night they camped where the templeton hotel now stands in the morning the president went over to where the temple now stands here he looked to the north then turned to the west thence south and then then turning to the east as much as to say lay tup to the we are beyond your power now he then put his cane down and said here we will build a temple unto the lord you that have been in it can testify to the truth of his saying to plow to plant sow and build houses bouses was the next thing to do president young with a trusty few and the best teams started back to guide the saints to their new home it is well tor lor you to understand that the people left at winter quarters were organized into companies of fifty teams in each these trains moved out as close to each other as convenient so they could protect each other in case of an indian attack many or 01 the teams had to be driven by women and children as in many of the men already had gone with the battalion and pioneers this made much work for those moo men that were left hitching up teams a atad J standing IP guard just imag imagine ine yourself turning out of 0 your bed d in in one of those storms to go 0 3 on guard in a rain storm such as on omy J the platte valley can produce where it pours down as though the deluge was on again mud mud everywhere yoi e went with no wood to m make ake a fire no houses you could not stretch the tents tent that you had with you I 1 was in one of those storms for three days and nights in all of that we did not have a fire we ate raw bacon with a few crackers we had left each day we had to travel and each night we stood guard I 1 do not believe that there was ever an emigrant train that crossed the plains that escaped those storms the captain goes ahead and looks out a camping place where water and gaass can be had when the wagons arrive he corrals them this is i done by driving one half to the rights right the other to the left in a half circle this then forms the corral with the camo on oa the outside and the stock inside this is done as a pro projection action against the indians the camp is now made the teams once unhitched and sent out to grass tents are pitched water is brought buffalo chips are gathered and a fire started on the ground or in the sheet iron stove as the case may be and all is moving so as to get something to eat before the storm comes that is approaching or before night sets I 1 in n hungry it makes me hungry now to think how hungry we would get then A lew few hymns and songs were sung then prayers and to bed to rise in the morning to pack up and move on repeating the same performance day after day all had to walk up hill that were not sick and many will this day tell you yo that it was most all up hill this labor had to be performed the fear of indians had to be endured tor for at least three months or all the way from the states to your now happy homes in utah we find that about seven hundred wagons with about two thousand people came the first year contrast ahe labor jabor of the ancient israelites with that of the latter day saints moses was wars out but fifteen days with his people when they began to murmur and wish themselves back around the flesh s h pots M of the egyptians the lord had hago to f ed them quail on toast with manna as a side dish to get them along at allis it to be wondered at that they quit work and that their descendants have not worked much since just think ox of it forty years traveling and an overland coach would have driven the sanit sam distance in two days or the pony express would have madeia in twenty hours brigham young with the saints traveled one thousand miles making the road every foot of the way in three months month and eleven days the people planted a garden and reaped the fruits thereof the same year there were no stores to run toi to for every little thing that was wanted itt ill those days the people just simply did la without each year teams had bad tu to be b sent back to bring up the saints that came across the ocean and those that were left on account of having no means to come the first year each year y missionaries were sent abroad to preach and each year found the people making making I 1 new settlements building new forts a I 1 digging new canals the indians took r csome tp some of their time as guard had to I 1 be stood in all tir settlements we all r bad to do mittory duty it waa wa an hamsing sight to see a cavalry camf amy on drill dinall men on an big horses big dig men on small horses and some were mounted even on mules the saddles vere fere some spanish some military some 24 english glish and some were human the guns and pistols were an assorted lot from a french ch horse to a missouri duel lag ing pistol the sabers rated from a pa damascus mascus danish german down to an Ifa english glish cutlass the clothing was what we could get hold ol 01 0 but the men were the true blue and there was no mistake our amusements then were mostly dancing I 1 will never forget the first dance I 1 attended in fillmore in 1856 1 I wore a coat and was the only young ulan ban that did the young men were extremely anxious that I 1 should dance every time and the floor mana manager germas was in a hurry to nil up the floor and would call fast dances like lanigan langgans Lan igans S ball and the like it was on the twenty fourth of july and the sweat began to pour out of me every one was looking at nie me and I 1 was the only one that did not seem eem to know what was up all looking and laughing at me I 1 thinking it was WR because I 1 seemed to be enjoying the dance at last it dawned on me that it was the coat I 1 was but a moment in throwing it off in the midst of the ine dance the music stopped and we all had a hearty laugh I 1 was one bof the boys ever afterwards A peck of wheat eat or a quarter of 0 a plug of tobacco twenty five cents was what the idlers charged shot powder and A were as good as cash potatoes re ire also taken the man that had bad a hed I 1 with anchors worked on abe e front was the envied of the rest of be boys 1 to describe the many costumes would ike ke up as much room as the society lumn does now the dress sleeve e w would have made two baby dresses en and the sleeves that the ladies bore rore re besides you young people are blessed the ool 1001 houses are built the country is is jailed lai med and all you have to do is to so lil yourselves of the opportunity bee you you live in a good climate ur r parents in most cases have lived a operate life and now you can follow their footsteps and make great men id women ot of yourselves ourselves above all irom angs ings abstain from drink evil asso izates es gambling smoking cigarette sand alle e swell head twenty eight out of arty brands of cigarettes contain pison on that will kill the swell head ill kill you with business men and leour ur frien friends s t honor your father and mother that ilow days may be long in the land was an injunction given in the Bible it is just ia binding and as true to day as it was thousands hsands of years ago do not wait until your parents are dead to honor hobor them and then put a few flowers on ir coffins but give them a ew flowers w while ile they still live by being kind to them each day and heeding their counsel remember that you live but i c and your days are but lew few do 2 all 11 the good you can each day of your fives aves make yourselves and others as happy as you can and I 1 will promise you that life will not be a failure |
