Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1851-05-16
From the Springfield (lll.) Journal.
The Brewster Branch OF the
Mormon Church.

Ii will be recollected that last July the
Brew ster Branch of the Mormon Church,
a good part of it from this city--left for
The Colorado country. Letters from Mr..
Brewster state that portion of the party,
comprising about one-half Of it-have To-
Gated near Sorcora, Valencia county,
New Mexico. They have purchased a
large tract of land and commenced set
dement,. Mr.. Brewster says that the
land purchased lies in the valley of the
RIO Grande. .... s.E .... ...
"Tbe valley is bounded by lofty bluffs,
from the SUBMITS of which back to the
mountains extends vast plain, destitute
of timber, and unfit for cultivation. 1t is,
however, valuable for grazing land, as it
is covered with CANA grass, which nigh,
support countless herds of sheep and cat
tie. Along the river there is some cot
ton wood, but the mountains afford an in
exhaus,ble supply Of pine, cedar and
pinon, and in some parts an abundance
of oak and walnut. ...." ..
The people Of this country never make
use of wood in building. All their houses
are made of adobes, or unburnt brick
These adobes are made by working up
sand, peculiar TO this country, into NOR
tar, of the proper consistency, and then
moulded into mortar of the proper shape,
and left to dry. In few days they be-
come sufficiently hardened by the heat
of the sun, when they are laid in the
morta. of the same sand. Such is the
dryness of the atmosphere, and the alb
sence of all violent storms, that walls
built in this manner will stand hundreds
of years. 3d..
..The soil of the valley is equal to that
of the Western States, but the people of
the country cultivate i, with The rudest
and simplest instruments; yet they man
age to raise very good crops of wheat,
corn, onions, &c. The price of corn is
never less than two dollars bushel.
THE climate is very mild. The pres
ent winter. though unusually severe, the
ground was not frozen so as to prevent
blowing until the 25,h of December, and
it was again in condition for blowing
on the 10Th of January.
AT present we have cloudless sky,
and the weather seems more like April
than like January; in fact there is no APP
pearance of winter in the valley, although
the lofty mountains few miles to the
west are still covered with snow TO the
depth of several feet. This valley pos
sesses an atmosphere of the greatest pu-
ri,y and healthfulness, far superior TO
that of any part of the United States
There are no swamps or marshes here,
and nothing to produce sickness or dis
ease as in the Western States. Such is
the purity of the air that objects at the
distance oftwenty miles appear as dis
tinctly visible as they do In the States at
the distance of five mica. The sun APP
pears just as brilliant the instant il rises
above The horizon as it does at MONDAY.
The moon and stars shine here with a
luslre unknown in the States, and are
never obscured by fogs and smoke when
near the horizon, but shine with undi-
minished lus,re until hid behind the
rocky SUBMITS of the western mount
ANS"
The settlement thus commenced being
on the west side of The Rio Grande, is
known in the Brewster revelations as the
Anil country, TO which the church were
directed to repair for an inheritance So
says Mr.. Brewster, who most unques
iionahly, understands all these matters.