The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-01-24
Carson Valley.

The recent occurrences in Carson Vale,
serve to illustrate very forcibly the necessity
which exists for making that the basis fol
separating Western Utahsfrom the Mormon
government Of the Salt Lake, and erecting i,
into new territory Of the United States. az
we suggested some timexback. There is nc
affinity whatever betwe1H the Mormons Of
the Salt Lake and the fIg&ntiles" of the Val,
ley, and the latter chafe very much at being
entirely deprived of their civil rights by the
tyranny directed by Brigham Young. They
have been cheated out of their representa-
ton in the territorial legislature, and the of.
ficers and laws set ovef them render all Judi
cial proceedings farcical. Various attempts
have been made, from time to tune, to effect
a change in Utah, but no SUCCESS has attend.
ed upon aIV: The 4gnon domination
stands at thisS 9ay ubsiiakcn, and pursues
the same domesticFoliey-a il displayed from
the first There is no pretence of enforcing
the laws of the United States, and Judge
Drummond is the first judge who has ever
undertaken to recommend it. Were Carson
Valley made the capital of new territory,
cut OFT from the present one, new regime
could be established in that part at least,
and, with the advantage of energetic national
officers, large emigration would no doubt
speedily How in from California, thus encour-
aging many of the overland emigrants to
stop and settle, as some have already d ne.
We nesd some such effort 20 ill The great
gap which lies between the settlements in
Kansas and Nebraska and those Of Califor-
mia and Oregon. At the Mormon settle
ments at the Salt Lake the most cxtortion-
ate injustice is p actised towards the emf
grants bound for California, and the object
of that policy has never been concealed. 1t
is to rountenance the 'stoppage'' Of gen.
tiles, as many of the Mormons are eager to
embrace the chances to escape with them to
California, their present condition being lit
tie short of actual servitude.
Geographers and travellers have taken
particular pains 10 characterize most of
Utah as sterile and unfit for cultivation
The settlements already effected disprove
this. 1t is now admitted that the valleys of
al! the streams and lakes are arabic. Bear
ing this in mind, and also the fact that most
of Western Utah is to this day entirely un-
known and unexplorable, the conclusion that
two-thlrds Of the territory is barren and a
mere desert will be seen to be shere guess
work. The lines of travel pursued by Ere
mont and other scientific explorers in this
region every where crossed streams and val
leys. Many Of these still remain on the
maps as mere fragments, the extent being
unknown. What was supposed to be vast
plain turns out to be trayersed by numerous
ranges Of mountains from which streams de-
sccnd and afford the means of irrigation.
If the one hundred and fifteenth meridian
of longitude were made the western bounda-
~ of Utah, and the territory between it and
California erected into new organization,
with the seat of government in Carson Val
ley. it would diminish the power Of the
MormOns, and open to settlement q region
from which at present settlers are debarred
by the dread of Mormonism Just across
the Sierra Nevada there lie the mining set
Elements of California quite neighborly to
Carson Valley. and the measure we propose
would speedily tempt thousands of adventu-
rers into the new region to engage in srecu-
lation, politics, business, etc