Show da via county uth june in elder george reynolds diction diotina ty ot of the book of mormon the ancient vity city called bountiful is described as the chief city of the Nep hites situated in lathe the northern part of south SouthA america bet tar far from the shore of the great eastern baet ma bea and but a short distance south of the isthmus of panama vit it was the key to the northern continent and p avious to the she birth of the savior none or of the invading armies of the laman itee appear to have beba able to pass pasa by it it was strongly fortified by moroni and nd his associate aas commanders and successors until the city W was encircled with a deep ditch and a high wall of earth sau aua timbers the modern which I 1 am now BOW is situated in davis county utah anti and consists ot of an in orn orated city surrounded eur rounded by one of the most moat fertile anu and productive agricultural districts in the territory westward it extends to the river jordan and the airest reat salt bait lake north to centerville Cent erville and east and south to the mountains which separate davis county from morgan and dalt Lake con counties the inhabited part of bountiful embraces about twenty five square miles which su sustains a population of about woo ol of these 2228 are members ot of the church organized into three bishope Bi s wards i awed respectively east west and south bountiful east bast bountiful to is the largest ward la in the davis stake of zion containing callies of laiten 15 saints or 1892 sou aou Is chester call to is the bishop and his big counselors are david stoker a son of the late bishop john Stoker janu henry Ji it ampton east bast bountiful has hae the largest and best beat finished meeting queue in too lue davis davia slake ana lor for several yearn alter after it wad waa first built li IL posses beu the he ot of being the finton meeting huU bouse in all utah itis it is in the main an adobe structure laough the basement is built of rock ane mana main building bui laing is BU feet feel long by 40 wide there iii id a two story nealry attached uita atta chea cheu to the east end aud lid the west end is beautified by a lofty tower terminating in five spires oi 01 which we the center one is considerably larger than each of the four caruer in till all the settlements ot of the balms were is no other tower like it ane erection ol of the building was waa in 1857 tout but it was waa not till 1862 wet west bountiful ward presided over by bishop lewis M grant hi an n adopted son of the tate late jedediah Jed edlah M grant cou contains taine souls reported ted on oh church statistics or 49 families who truly possess one of the garden spots of our territory the fertility and richness ot 01 some of the soil here la Is not our aur by any la iu the rocky south Bountiful lying south booth of west bountiful embraces the extreme south wein corner ot of davis county one hundred families famil iee or souls belong ing to the church constitutes the bulk ot of the population as there are but a few ew non in this thia locality Rich richard araO 0 egan egana a son eon odthe of the late major howard presides here as with joseph hogaj hogaas a son soa of the late erick 0 M rogan hogan oue one of the first utah elbers sent to scandinavia and jolin john perry benson a son or of the late apostle eora eera T benson as cou counselors n three may properly be termed the be vegetable garden of bale lake city as a very large proportion or the fruits and vegetables and also dairy products consumed cone umed by the lu in habitants of metropolis are rallou here thattie that the people are doing well financially to ie by their beautiful residences comfortable outhouse ornamental fences fencee etc which the traveler beholds un on every hand au as he be through bountiful originally known as a see be aiyub settlement eitt lement also Sto kerd settlement and subsequently north can yon von ward was wan firby settled bottled I 1 lu the he fall of 1847 by Perri griA and a tew few ulLi cre who had crossed the plains and mountains that year iu in the wake of the pioneers pioneer pion eera sed led directly by president Preal dent brigham young io in the tion had increased to bouis souis in 1854 according to the advice of Pre eidem young the people following the example of ancient bountiful commenced to wall in their city as aa a means of protection against the laiman luciaus tho the very same race or ceolie which made it i lor the inn abitanta of the bountiful to encircle their city wita is deep ulicia and a high wall of earth and Uru tim berc berr the wall commenced ty the bul buld deru erb of modern bountiful was waa twelve feet high and six feet L thick at the bottom it a tract of land 21 roje rode long by rods rode wide most moot of it was completed but the proposed bmw wese never bever hirou aa a the latvian elatab ito ite neighbor promised good behavior and so 0 o far a as bountiful is he ae kept his pledge ever after remnants of t jis its city wall Is sull stul seen been and the ola set bottlers tiers can easily araos it all around where it was built nearly forty years ago when the mormon pioneer of 1847 first planted their feet in the valley of the great salt lake president brig ham young the leader of that illustrious body which has become so famous in the history of utah and which by and by will become renowned throughout the worlo told his bis fellow ellow travelers that they had arrived in the spot where the chief city of the saints in the rocky mountains should stand some of the pioneers who were unfavorably impressed with the utter desolate aud and barren appearance of the valley suggested to the president that perhaps alter abter exploring in wi different ferent directions direct lona a more desirable locality might be found to in which to make the headquarters of the church it was waa then that the prophet brigham remarked to his brethren that they might go exploring in all directions as much as they pleased plea eed but that they would return convinced that the site where salt lake city now stands was the best beat place in the mountains in which watch to build a large city anu that its geographical features also made it the natural center for all the surrounding cou itry that the i president was correct is now conceded by all who know anything about utah territory ana having also myself visited nearly every nook and corner in utah where settlements hav been found founded I 1 can add my testimony to the truthfulness of the prophetic utterance of that mae maa who at the time lime he be made t e assertion was personally unacquainted with the different mountain valleys where his great genius subsequently led him tu to the fount founding ling of prosperous but none of these have ever been able to outgrow or outshine sale lake city and vicinity nor are there uy valleys in the rocky mountains which possess more natural advantages than the one bordering on the east shore of 0 the great ladt atio de dead d sea of the parched and barren as it looked to te 00 pioneers of 1847 many ot of whom had bad possessed good homes in the fertile and beautiful t tradis R cis of country witti with which the groat great ata states tes of illinois missouri and ohio abounds r tae sim transformation is complete through the industry of the saints and the blessings blessing of the almighty the valley of the great salt lake has haa been changed from a desert to a beautiful gold field it contains the two largest cities in utah and the ibe husbandman is in certainly more prosperous raus in this t than ban any other valley in the rocky mountains on 00 this one point at least mormon jew and gentile agree the late president brigham young was right ANDREW JENSEN JEN SEX |