Show arz 77 via J VW F 7 q PRACTICAL 1 the prophetic vision of joseph I 1 S smith mith who predicted his people would yet be great and mighty InI in the midst ot of the rocky mountains mountain b was now about to be realized under the leadership of brigham bounsy one of the greatest colonizers of the west with the prescient eyes of inspiration he environed an empire in the great salt lake basin the vision in the nauvoo temple reinforced by all available information had given de finate direction and a c clear I 1 ea r cut objective to the morman wanderings the call of the mormon battalion I 1 though a godsend to the saints at the time involved a great sacrifice to the men who were called to the colors many of them were scattered in various parts of iowa attempting to provide for their families for them it was of course a severe trial to leave their families on such an errand but the objective sought was vas in accord with that of the saints who were now facin facing g i with faith and assurance this western wilderness for a future home at this juncture brigham young showed his frontier statesmanship and practical wisdom in organizing his people for the great trek the pioneer band of selected to I 1 make the advance trip chose the north platte route to escape contact with their enemies some of whom were on the way to oregon the story of this famous band has been too often told to need re petion here sonic some incidents are arc however of particular significance as indicative of brigham youngs continued interest in seeking further information concerning the destiny of I 1 ils hla people among those who were met on the way were moses harris thomas L smith jim bridger and samuel brannan who was returning from california answers to the questions asked were both favorable and unfavorable mose harris account of bear river valley was in marked contrast to the favorable of ashby fremont and wyeth and the extravagant praise of father de smet however he agreed with de smet rewarding the fertile soil and productive possibilities of cache valley jim bridger see clayton journal gave a rather detailed account of bear valley utah valley and various other parts of the great basin on the whole his report was favorable and reilly really flattering as aa regards utah lake region and the country south of the desert in tact fact he said he had seen wheat and corn south as good as i airy grown in old kentucky he attested to the richness of th the e so soil I 1 in bear river valley but feared corn would not ripen there because of the cold nights samuel brannan tried to persuade the company to go to california but brigham young with resolute purpose pushed on to salt lai lake e valley the land of his dreams another article of this series will appear next week |