CHAPTER Ill.

Salt Lake City and Valley.—Salt Lake.—Climate and bathing. —Remained
a month.—Then made a trip of a month on the plains, —Caught in a
blizzard,—Sixty-two frozen mules for breakfast, Oct. 14th.—A rough
tramp of 180 miles in the snow.—Back to Salt Lake.—Dreaming of
home !—As to the hardships of trains snow-bound in the mountains.

”

—Work for a Mormon dignitary.—The ‘mighty Host of Zion.”—
How they whipped Johnson’s U. 8. Army in 1861, ete. —Mountain-
Meadow massacre, etc.—Leave Salt Lake on horseback for St. George,
»00 miles south.—Takes a month.—Mormon farms and villages,—
Their system of settlement, ete.—Climate, soil, mountains. —A month
in St. George as ‘* Dodge’s Clerk.”’—On an Indian raid.—Made a trip
to the extreme southern settlements.—What for !—Cotton country,
—Mountain of rock salt.—A true, comprehensive description of the
Mormons.—How they live and deal with each other and with Gentiles,
—Their religion and government, as they REALLY ARE IN PRACTICE, —
Their virtues, crimes and danger.

SALT Lake City, with its gardens, trees ‘ppling brooks,
spread out in a spacious valley, made fruitful and charming by
a cheerful climate, water and industry, presented a beautiful,
pleasing appearance to us, having seen little else than bleak,
burnt, craggy desolation for twelve hundred miles and sixty
days.—

The valley to the north extends about a hundred miles and
is about eight or ten miles wide, on an average. This is water-
ed mostly by Bear and Webber rivers, which empty in Salt Lake.

To the south the valley reaches about seventy miles,
averaging, say, two miles in breadth, is watered and fertilized by
the river Jordan, also emptying into Salt Lake, where the
waters of this and Bear river, besides other streams, evaporate,
leaving their salts in the lake ; it, like the dead sea, having no
outlet. The country is alkaline or salty, and the atmosphere is
very light and dry; the former accounts for the vast amount of
salt in the lake, and the latter for the evaporation in excess of
that in a moist climate. Is 4200 feet above the sea, 90 miles
long, 20 to 25 miles broad, 15 to 20 feet deep. Six pails of
water are said to make one of salt. Health seekers should note
that here is a mild, dry mountain climate with sea breeze, and

bathing in cold brine or warm sulphur.
(a4)

4
'

Remained
ught in a
—A rough
vaming of
Lountains.
' Zion.” —
Mountain-
‘t. George,
villages. —
—A month
[ade a trip
n country.
ion of the
h Gentiles.
PRACTICE, —

i¢ brooks,
wming by
beautiful,
an bleak,
and sixty

miles and
5 is water-
Salt Luke.
ty miles,
tilized by
here the
evaporate,
having no
osphere is
amount of
excess of
, 90 miles
x pails of
hould note
breeze, and

ALL ABOUT THE Mormons. 45

I bathed in the famed warm sulphur springs, where Dr.
tobinson was assassinated for desiring to own them by the U.
S. laws, when the brethren wanted it; attended the theatre and
church meetings ;—remember hearing Vice-President Kimbal
from the pulpit tell the choir to “sing something lively, as he
enjoyed that kind of music best even at a theatre.” Ate apri-
cots, peaches and other fruit from the acre gardens that adorn
nearly every residence in town. There being a stream of
mountain water flowing on either side of every street for irri-
gation, ete. Talked with men from the mining and stock
regions of the surrounding country, who come for hundreds of
miles on business, to winter, and spend their money in enjoy-
ment here, as a place, that surely has many attractions, even as
a permanent place of residence.

Remained here about a month, part of the time driving
team about town; then for another month drove a six mule
team in a grain supply traiu for the Overland Stage Company
at forty dollars a month, until caught, the 13th of October, in a
blizzard on the plains ; were confined to our beds in the wagons
for two nights and a day; nor could we scarcely move on
account of the cold and the snow drifting in and over us.
When the storm abated we crawled out, broke up feed boxes
for fires, and went to look for the stock—124 heads; were in the
brush (on Green river), where we had left them, but just half
of them, 62, were frozen to death, and in all the ghastly attitudes
of cruel agony. Left the wagons where we had camped, drove
the remainder of the mules to a valley, six or seven miles away,
where it was quite warm, but little snow had fallen, and left
them for the winter in care of providence, who never tempers
the winds for an unfortunate and abused mule.

Three or four Mormon teams were engaged to take us with
them to Salt Lake—180 miles; but had to walk, camp and
sleep out in the snow, a foot or two deep. There is nothing
terrible about sleeping in the snow or a snow storm for a night
or two, with pleuty of blankets, no matter how cold it is; but
to continue doing so and travel, the blankets get wet or damp,
so that one dreams of home, seveel home!

In accordance with the custom of the country, as a sub-
stitute for taxes, prisons, courts and lawyer gangs, I had a

46 Satt Lake Crry anp Utan.
navy-revolver up to this time ; but never having needed it, and
it being cumbersome, disposed of it, and have never owned a
fire-arm since, except a shot gun; though on a few occasions
have found it necessary to carry a pistol for protection in kind.

There is scarcely any necessary occasion to lose horses or
mules by cold or starvation in the far West. Jf they are not
over-worked, they will stand any one storm. And there are
genial valleys of sunshine, and grass in sight or accessible from
most anywhere ; also rabbits and other game are quite plentiful
for parties short of rations. Therefore, the heroism (?) of men
in command, for living on starved and frozen mules and for
other hardships endured in the mountains, is a humbug and out-
rage. The mules should have been rollicking in a friendly
vale, and the party living on jack-rabbits and venison.

Found the weather warm and pleasant when we got to Salt
Lake Valley again. Being acquainted with a young man
(working for Gen. D. H. Wells) who wanted a vacation for a
week o: two, I took his place—hauling lumber from a saw-
mill to town.

Wells was third in authority in the Mormon Church and
Masonic Order ; had two wives (sisters), at this, his principal
home, where they lived in good style, and several others in
other parts of town. His appearance to an unadvised outsider
was that of a clever gentleman. He commanded the Mormon
Militia, which were now having their annual training, I had
bought a horse and saddle—to travel on my own hook to learn
more of this famed secret brother- and sisterhood of masons—
loaned it to one of the boys to attend the training near town,
and the saddle blanket being a fancy one, the General himself
did not disdain the use of it from a wandering Gentile, in com-
manding the “mighty host,” the same that “whipped the
United States” under the renowned Albert Sidney Johnson,
President Buchanan and company, in 1861. Or rather, “God
did it,’ the secret brethren say.

To an inexperienced outsider, it is a real mystery how
Brigham Young and secret brethren out-generalled, out-dip-
lomated, out-witted and stripped our Government agents, and
people in that squabble. They had done it before, and have
done it ever since.

ar

1 it, and
owned &
ecasions
in kind.
lorses Or
rare not
there are
‘ble from
plentiful
) of men

and for
y and out-

_ friendly

ot to Salt
ung man
ion for a
mM & Saw-

murech and
principal
others in
1 outsider

Mormon
Or. I had
k to learn
masons—
ear town,
hl himself
e, in com-
pped the
Johnson,

her, “God

tery how
|, out-dip-
ents, and
and have

ALL ABOUT THE Mormons.

Those who worship secrecy, tact and success alone, should
plant flowers on his grave and revere the name of Brigham
Young.

They had committed many excesses and horrible crimes
against outsiders in their secret order and tribal ways ; openly,
as well as secretly, dominated, repudiated and defied the
Government, while Brigham Young was made Governor of the
Gentiles in Utah, (being already chief of the Mormons), John