The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1851-01-25
TIE TERRITORY or UTAH.


Hartford Courant description of its
features and resources which is inter-
esting. The whole character of the
Territory of Utah is singular. Its situa-
ton is unlike that of any other section
Of North America-its origin and the
manner of its settlement no less strange.
The name of Utah is given to large
extent Of territory bounded by Califor-
MIA, New Mexico, and what was former
ly termed the Great w Western Territory.
II is of sufficient dimensions to be sepa-
rated into several States, provided in fu-
turc ages its population shall warrant it.
But many parts of it SO partake of Pc
culiar construction as to render it, for the
present at least, uninhabitable. Passes
through precipitous mountains, whose
tops are covered with snow, and whose
sides are but rocks, exist, it is true, but
they are mostly narrow valleys of the
most arid and sterile kind, their surfaces
covered with incrustations Of bitter salt,
and their whole vegetation giant spe-
cies of sage, Of no earthly Use but to be
consumed as fuel. In the midst of these
icy mountains, through which there is
no access but by those passes, arid in
summer and choked with snow for five
months in the year, lies tract Of land,
elevated some four or five thousand feet
above the level of the sea, called the
Great Basin, which furnishes the habita-
bic part of the territory. In different
parts of this Basin the Mormons have es-
tablished their home, probably at first
with the idea that they would be cut OF
from all the rest of the world by the nat
ural difficulties of the contiguous terri
tory and the popularity of their situa-
ton. Here they expected TO form, in
security and in silence, the germs of a
great, peculiar religious empire; but the
stream Of California emigration discov-
cred their trail and inundated their prin-
cipal srttlcmcnt--and they arc now the
open, "half-way house" to the Pacific.
This Basin is some five hundred and
sixty miles in diameter, has its own sys-
tenn of lakes and rivers, and has no
known communication whatever with
the sea, unless the existence Of The whirl-
ia he l,tcly J;scnyora1 .sIc,l1 ,,rl,,a ~
;ntprno1 cG.,,,,,,,,;c.t;1,, ,,.tr '. thd po.;sa
or with so,na snrin[, or Is,.o;n +hs ,o,rsr
..or,,tr, T., r., Tn~.,,,,nr, -, .'ar wy ~
bo%;n ,,as tho Grsnt e,J, I'i.. " IVA wa
watnry ~ th;s shnat ,ro ,.L.li,,, ., g.. ~,
aynlor.I thounh ,,rr,,',hl,, ;ts oan n
parts viii ha ro7'n1 yarv dan Its w. a.
tors mr., ;,to,sol,, co,+ ,9ono ~ .ha' "" w.,
ocean--tl,rce gallons maxim, one Gallon
of the rurcst, whitest, and finest salt.
Southeast Of this lake. Shut in bv the
mountains, lies the Mormon valley. that
contains their capital city--hv some
called the Great Salt Lake civ, bv 9th
ers Mormon city. This yall.y is tbirtv
miles by TWENTY-FIVE, connected to an
other VALLEY, which is aI,m,t ff1v miles
by eight. These two valleys contain
.he principal body of the settlers, to the
number Of twenty thousand. Explorers
think that they are capable of support
ing population Of a million.
Fifty miles south of the city are the
Utah lake and valley. Here lies the
city OF Provo, on the Provo rivcr.--The
lake is pure water, eight miles by four,
and ahounds in fish. There is still an
other valley, enc hundred miles further
south, called San Peter, where there is
another settlement; and here We find the
hieroglyphic ruins, the remains of glazed
pottery, &C.. that indicate the former ex-
lstence ofthe outlying cities Of the Aztec
empire.
The soil Of those valleys is asfon;sb.
insly productive. though roouirinn rom
stantlv artificial Irrigation from the noun.
tain streams, The climate is one Of the
healtniest and the air the rurest m tho
continent. The neighboripe mountains
rise to the HEIGHT of mile and haIf
above the vallrV, and are covered with