New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-19
rHH1A NEGOTIATIONS WITH BHIeRAN YOUNG
gpp Our Special Corrsposdsot.

TSe 6rt diyision OF the army which sccon-
vsr,.d), cos.st ps Of Phelpss Battery the "a ORA
son,s and the Volunteer Battalion, marched from
Yer: B,<s-r on the 18th, and csmped at nieat on
n. Muddy. 10 miles distsn. TIE next day ttey
sdy.sced 20 mles, 10 Bear River, where they Tere
ioipsd .. pigh.fAl b. Gen. Johnston and his stan,
seeom pADied by al the civil ofiosrs of the Terri
tsry except the Governor and the Superintendent
Of IDeia Afars, who, you are aware, ead ioito"oa
tAe Commis.ioDer. INTO the city several d1ys DE-
fore. Here 40 express arrived from Gov. Powell
and Mi. McCulocb, announcing that the Aormons
had accepted the Presidents proclamation, aud
usuld comply ~iih its iojunctions; hat they hsd
prcni,ed obedience to the Federal Government.
would receive the Territorial officers, and would
present no opposition 70 the advance Of the Army.
On ,be noon Of the 18th, tie United States Mar
sAA, Mr.. Dotson, started for the city, sccon-
panied BY the mail ard q small party OF Civilians,
wLi.h joined. We arrived shout O'Clock THIS
afternoon Along tho road We encountered no one
but two parties Of spos;a.e on their way 70 the
States.
Ihage ceased toridiculs the eItravsgA Ant rhetoric
Of the Mornojs about the Valleys of the NOM
nature should baye found in the scenery which sur
rounds them respiration for the "war." have
trsversed the TJrol, wandered through S@itzer
hsd, trsmped with party of German studsnts
ever the bills Of the Palstnste, have crossed tie
AnegAanies bali dozen times, and have w,ded IN
the trout brooks Of NOrthern NeR-Hampshre 20
many Summers that am familiar with every land
her vska rub
but I have never seen a panorama Of mouu.sia
sc<nery 50 varied and beautiful as on our ride
from Bear River 10 the Valley of the Grea. Lake.
For miles and miles in the kanyOns the road winds
through tnclets Of willows and alders and hawthorn
bsibes, whose twigs iDterlsced and often hung so
low under the load Of leaves and blossoms that
even when we bent down on the necks of our
little Indian ponies they swept our backs. Through
the nterstices Of the foliage could catch glimpses
Of the mouoian sides, streaked by slides Of gravel
and .tudded with NAMES of sandstone surrounded
by twitteriDg 6ocks of birds which had built their
nosts in the crevces Of tae rock. The ridges We
crossed between ksDyon and kanyon were covered
With fields of luxurisnt grass and flowers. From
them, whenever the sun shone clear, we could see
On the west and south the broken line of the
Wshsatch range; butthrough the morning haze only
the outline of its white crests was visible, and our
eyes strained to discern more.
For the fret night we csmped at sunset about
half way through Echo KanyoB, which is ~ miles
long. We started the next morning at dawn, and
just about sunrise caught glimpse of the Mormon
fortifcstions none of which were visible during
our frst days ride. AZ the ksnyon approaches
Weber River, it dwndles 10 width 10 FIVE or SIX
hundred feet The northern side becomes perfect
wall Of roch, which rises perpendcularly hundreds
Of feet above the road. The southern sde retains
the character Of an abrupt mountain slope covered
with grass and stunted bushes. The creek, with
lie dense fringe of willows fills the whole bottom
between the road and the bluffs. The first indica-
ton that we were approaching the fortihcatons
was the sight of piles of rock heaped into walls
pierced with loopholes, which were visible on every
projecting point of the cliffs along the northern
side, from most of which pebble could be snapped
down upon the road. Shortly after, on turning
bend in the kanyon, we saw that all the willo We
along the creek had been cut away, and through
the cleared space ditch about five feet wide and
ten feet deep was dug across the whole bottom,
which the road crossed on q corduroy bridge. The
dirt thrown from this ditch was packed so as to
form . dam on which logs were so placed
that il would answer also for a breastwolk,
behind which rifemen could be posted under cover.
A sluceway at one end allowed free how 70 the
creek, but this could easily be filled up, and the
material for that purpose was lying near at hand.
About 200 yards further on another breastwork and
ditch had been constructed from the creek to rock
near the base Of the northern cliff Space sufficient
for the passage Of wagons was left between the
rock and the foot Of the chf and the evident nten
ton was to compel trains to pass beneath the pre-
cipice, which had probably been mined. At the dis
tAnce of so or 60 yards was another dam and a
ditch which the road crossed again on temp orsry
bridge. The purpose of this ditch was to prevent
wagons from passing to the opposite side Of the
bottom and avoiding the vicinity of the cliff. hun
dred yards further on was the last dam and ito &C
companying bresstwork. They stretched the whole
way across the bottom. BY the aid of this dam
the kanyon could be ovelhowed for several hundred
yards to the depth of Eve or six feet. II was con-
structed just above the mouths Of two narrow
gorges which enter the kanyon at this point, nearly
opposite one another. The earth washed down on
Of the gorge on the southern side forms tongue
sand which extends nearly half way into Echo Kan
yon and obyiates the necessity Of 30 long dam 6
the 6rst one of the series. A gully washed by the
and arranged so as to form bresstwork IN con
pecton with the dam. Stone walls were built acros
the mouth of each Of the narrow gorges. On the