The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-12 00:00:00

THE MORMON TERRITORY.

(From A dventures among tite Mormons.)
Great Salt Lake Valley is situate in that portion
of the American continent called. Utah territory ;
bounded on the north by Oregon ; east by No-

braska, Kansas, and New Mexico, from which it is
separated by the Rocky Mountains ; south by New
Mexico ; and west by California. The distance from
here is :—Liverpool to New Orleans, 5,000 miles ;
New Orleinslo St. Louis, 1,173 miles • St. Louis to
Winter Quarters, 632 miles ; from iVinter Quar-
ters to Salt Lske Oily, 1,035 miles ; total, 7,840
miles. Utah Territoryis divided into fourteen coun-
ties. In length from east to west, it is 650 mils ;
breadth from north to south, 350 ; urea, 225,000.

square miles. The population is not known, the
saints having particular reasons to make it appear
fabulously large. Some of the elders say it is 150,000,
others, 160,000, while in the " Overland Route,"
published by F. D. Ricbards, it is stated at from
40,000 to 60,000. The valley is 4,000 feet above
the level of the sea, surrounded by mountains,
many of them eternally covered with snow.
There is no rain or water for irrigation pur-
poses, except what comes down from the
mountains, chiefly melted snow, which makes
successful agriculture an impossibility. FlO.ll
its great elevation and pure bracing atmosphere, we
should imagine Salt Lake to be the healthiest region
in the world; but quite the reverse is the ease.
Sickeeis is very common and mortally great. This
is supposed to be due, in a great measure to the
abundance of alkaline salts, or salaratu., in the soil,
which shows itself in a white of on the
surface of the ground, covering whole acres with
the appearance of a heavy white frost. Many of the
streams ara so strongly impregnated with it as to
make it dangfrous for cattle to drink from them.
It not only affects health, but destroys vegetation,
mining whole fields of corn in a single night. Salt
Lake Valley possesses one invaluable property to
the Mormon leaders, and that is isolati m.
Herein lies the difficulty of persons returning
when once there. It is 1,000 miles from the States,
and 600 from California, through a country of hos-
tile Indians, over unbridged rivers, precipitous
rocks, and barren plains. One-half of the year the
inhabitants of Utah are entirely bound up, for the
only entrances—the kanyons (canons) and ravines
aro filled with snow, rendering egress and ingress
alike impossible. The Government is entirely in
the hands of the prophet and his family con-

noxious. No other governors can be tolerated among
t:iena unless protected by an armed force. The
Hon. Fairy E. Brocchus and others were sent by
the Federal Government to take part in the go-
vernment of Utah, but they found their services
unnecessary, themselves insulted, and their lives iu
danger. Polygamy is rampant, the authorities
having from 10 to 120 wives each. Marriage is a
very slight contract with than), as they may be di-
vorced at any time on payment of a small sum to
the prophet, who makes it his business to encourage
his own trade. There are girls of 15 in the valley who
have been married three or four times. .Many of the
auth )rit ies marry their own sisters and daughters, the
object being to keep the authority in their own fami-
lies or hands. By the time a female reaches 25
years she is an old woman. En large harems, as in
the ca•e of Brigham, Parley, &-c., the women work,
the men are the overseers. It is found good policy
to separate the women. One portion lives on one
portion of the estate, and another portion else-
where. When the soldiers and-r Colonel Steptoe
passed through the valley in 1855, over 100 of the
Moi mon women begged of them to take them to
California. They took a large number, some of
them the wives of the apostles, but many of them
they had to leave behind on account of the scarcity,
of provisions. The elders made a dreadful noise
about it.
The post-office is in the hands of Brigham and
his confederates, so that he knows the mind of
every letter-writer there. He was heard to say
to the congregation at the beginning
of last
year, " The, e are many of you who have written
complaining letters to England. I know youlal I
Did you think I'd let them go ? I have nearly
waggon lead full of them behind myhotsiee " Jour-
nal is the way he gets his revelations. A._ tti
of Discourses, vol. iii., he says, "I
_Know ye not
that I have my ireads strung through all the ter-
ritory so that I know what each man is doing 1"
Each faithful saint is required to sign a deed of
consecration, whereby he makes over to the
church for ever his houses, land, wives, children,
and everything he possesses, so that when he
leaves-he leaves alone. His effects are church pro-
perty.
salt Lake Valley is divided into wards, over
each of which is placed a bishop, whose council
forms a court ofjustice. The character of the people
is what might be expected. Heber C. Kimball
thus speaks of the saints :—'"lhere are many of
you here who would cut my thr)at and Brigham's
too, if you dare." Brigham says "Rake all hell
with a small toothcomb, and you cannot find
greater devils than the elders in this city." Of the
bishops he says :--cc You old grey-headed know,
nothings, you are doted ; you are, shall I say, hard
:lens ? No ; you are poor old, soft-shell fogies,
that a few pounds of sugar or tea will
buy
Journal, vol. iii., p. 241. They live in worrying
each other.