Show THE GULLS OF UTAH the story ot of the gulls is one of the most beautiful in western history around the family hearth and the camp fires on the plains or in the woods the frontiersman has ever loved to relate the story ortho ot the gulls when they came from far over the inland sea and saved tho the fields of 0 g grain rain from the ravages of tho the crickets in the summer ot of 1848 1846 it is often told even today bythe few pioneers i remaining and the listener is impressed with the pathos of those flays days of terrible toll toil and struggle the gull has been known to abe ute indians for ages these birds to them were inmates of 0 the home of ol 01 the great spirit which was an island in the blue sea toward tho the setting sun their whiteness was of the clouds for wherever animals live their color partakes of the nature of their surroundings so with the gulls they came from the snow and cloud land beyond and were always alway regarded as birds from the mystic world of the I 1 great spirit there is a pawnee legend e also which gives the origin of the gulls some people in a boat say the pawnees Paw nees desired to go around a point of land which projected far into the water As the water was always in a violent commotion under the I 1 end of the point which terminated in a high cliff some of the women were requested to walk over the neck of land one of them got out with her he r children in order to lighten the boat she was directed to go over the place and they promised to wait for her on the other side the people in the boat had bad gone so far that their voices in iti giving the direction became indistinct the poor woman became confused cont used and suspected they wanted to desert her sho she remained about the cliff constanty constancy crying the last words sh heard she ultimately changed into a gull and now shouts only the sound go over boover dover oo 00 the people of utah have ample reason reabon to look upon tho the gull as a sacr sacra A creature in the spring or of 1848 corae five thousand acres ot of heat and bar lc icy y had been planted in the valley of the great salt lake the prospects were good for a bountiful harvest and the people were in the best of spirits the plowing and planting had been done with care by the first of may the farms looked beautiful on the cottonwood and the mill creeks south A ot of the city fruitful gardent garden had replaced y the sag 0 grants were arriving from the eastern states every day and their souls were touched alth gla gladness r as they looked for the 11 first first t time u upon pon the land ot of promise in the center ot of the valley about where murray now stands a great tract ot of land had been sown bown to wheat that it might at hardest bo be gathered into a general store house tor for the use of th the e people in time of need much aluch rain I 1 had tallen fallen during tho the spring and the indications for good crops could not have been more encouraging during the last week in may however a report became prevalent that black crickets were attacking the wheat fields lust just north of the city at first tho the rumor caused little commotion but within a week the crickets had spread to neighboring fields and in a few days the devouring horde swept down upon the entire valley leaving neither blaile blade nor loaf leaf bancroft the historian says bays men alen women and children turned out en masse to combat the pests driving them into ditches or upon piles ot of reeds which they would set on fire striving in every way until strength was exhausted to beat back the devouring host but in vain they tolled in vain they prayed A terrible fear swept thru the hearts of the people the black pest would not leave instead it increased alarmingly day by day in the various wards meetings were held and a day ot of prayer and fasting was appointed the people had great faith though the children of the pioneer camp cried with right fright and ana the me women begged their god for help says john R Al murdoch 1 I remember the days of the crickets I 1 have been in the wilderness and faced the dangers of the plains I 1 have made the march to california with the united states army through mexico and arizona but never did I 1 experience such a terrible time as when the crickets swept down upon our fields of 0 grain 1 to destroy them there w wera ere many hundreds of immigrants betge between en the rocky mountains and the missouri river who N were ere expected that summer elizabeth dilworth who was a pioneer of that y sr says A messenger met inet our cur cr J the mouth of echo canyon and ali us of the of crick ts we were told to to be as Ep sparing laring of our food as possible as famine was facing the people during the coming winter think ot of the feelings of those poor dust be brimmed anil and burgay immigrants A hen ben they discovered they hey were going to a land of famine and yet we knew say says s miss dilworth Dilwor tb that god would deliver us their faith was certainly rewarded fenogilo the people atoo stood d with strick aril en hearts 0 ari sw watching atchin 9 bi oie e do st rut agn nt oi their crops out of the great salt lake camo came the gulls of these strange snowwhite snow white birds with wild cries winging their way A new fear rose in tho the minds of the people as they saw these birds settle down upon their fields felds a fear that another toe foe had come to complete emo the destruction of their growing grain what was their joy can hardly be told when they saw these gulls pounce upon the black crickets and be begin in to gorge themselves so ravenously indeed that many of the birds over stuffed by their rapid and heavy feeding would actually regurgitate their spoil ind and again go on devouring this tact fact might seem incredible were it tilt not amply proved by the testimony of the hundreds of eyewitnesses eye witnesses as well as by the nature of tho the bird itself which as stated in another article in this issue has tl ti 3 habit of regurgitating nod aft r carrying it to the island of the groat great salt lake to feed i young the people gazed in abaz amazement 11 upon pon the birds at their bekc bencic clent bork ori no wonder it leeine se eine to them a sheer miracle from heaven ri a direct and convincing aliser to lo their prayers for six days tho the destruction went on oa and on the evening of t aka sixth day which was sunday these viv bcd deliverers having destroyed stroyd de the plague quietly flow flew back to acir island homes in the bosom of te tle degreat Great salt lake if the crops were spared in an the people were surely saved from ia ar for that wl winter anter even vill blui could be gathered was time in utah people wens put plat u short rations ever eve rythus th tt na A antt I 1 A t could bl biar ado g s ifa in liter tas V s ii aa many were r reduced to 0 V cl str tr I 1 that they went out with lie In indium and for food dug roots nd and boiled them with the hides of emals al mala that had been used for cabins la in february 1849 the of the various wards took an Inkin inventory tory of the bread stuffs in the vall vala 7 and it le was officially reported that yere was little more than three abree fauria s of a pound for each inhabitant atil titell harvest time i but despite the suffering lg wo no one starved and no one grow aishe heartened disheartened dis to ii d the people hold held meetings i lff w which the gulls were honored and aj ased and god was thanked tor for their idell adil verance vc rance in the autumn too a gre great ti feast was given in the bowery to which all came over a hundred e effi in ii grants on their way to california 1 were invited and they too joined with the people in this feast ot of thanksgiving some time later a special celebration was held by the people of tho the thirteenth ward in commemoration me of tho the coming of the gulls and each person wore a ribbon on which was painted a gull and the words wor s live lye all and let e 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