The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1858-07-24

tails, and deposits them on the Snore. cams
and wagons come from the cities and SHOW
el it up. and it sells often as low as fifty
cents per 100 lbs.
WALL ROUND THE CITY. -,
We turn our eyes from the Salt Lake
back to the city, which is Just pceping from
under the hill. We are stopped by a mud
wall twelve feet high, six feet wide at the
base, two and half feet on top; in front of
it is wide, deep ditch, and it is defended
by seven bastions at half musket range
These are pierced with loopholcs to afford
front and flank fire in case OF. attack. 1t
was pretendedly built to keep out Indians,
but as il encompasses the city. which covers
an area of six square miles, all its male pop
ulation could not thoroughly defend it,
The hills rise abruptly around it and there
are abundance of cininenceS where, a rifle
man could kill persons in the city, and the
wall be but as - wall of paper beneath him.
II was built in 1854; its design was to give
to the people something to do, as to keep
the mind and hands occupied is the best
means to prevent impertinent inquiry and
leave no time for rebellion. The wall above
described does not extend more than half
arousd the city.
DESCRIPTION OF TIE CITY.
Imagine perfectly level plain, apparent
" twenty miles wide and one hundred
miles long, almost surrounded by mountains.
Near the mountains, on the east of the plain,
conceive section of land, six miles square,
laid out as city, the streets, all of which
are much wider than Broadway, regularly
laid out and running exactly at right angles
to each other, either due north and south or
due east or west; they are 100 feet wide;
the sidewalks are twenty feet wide; the
blocks are very large, often containing ten
acres of land The city has fifteen streets
i'm one direction and eighteen in the other !;
they are unpaved, and if much trampled
during wet weather must be very mudy.-
The site of the city gradually slopes from
the north tc the south; at the present time
there is fresh stream of water running
down the sides of every street laying north
and south; water from these streams is con-
veyed into almost every garden in the city.
for irrigation purposes. Cotton wood and
other trees have been set out along every
street; their bright green vendure and
shade give peculiar charm to the smooth
and regular thoroughfares. Small foot
bridges have been built over the streams
where they intersect the sidewalks. The
town is very sparcely covered with houses !;
in the major part of il there arC only two or
three little habitations on square block,
and it will be remembered that the blocks
/ are very large. The houses are built close
7 to the sides of the blocks, the rest of the
ten acres being titled as gardens and fields !;
4 thus the city at present contains numerous
/ small fields of wheat and some very fine
! gardens. The houses are all built of adobe
I sun-dried brick; they are about five inches
wide, ten inches long and four inches thick /;
/ they are made of superior quality of clay
/ for building purposes, and seem to form
| very substantial structures. The color OF
! the buildings is sort of slate-white, and
/ though with an individual house it is not
very agreeable, yet it gives TO the tout en-
/ semble of the city n very lively and pleasant
! appearance. The buildings look neat and
! comfortable; they are generally small mod
| est structures, laying no claim to architec-
! tural beauty; their style is varicgated, but
not remarkably so. Probably no other city
/ in the world of the size presents to the eve
| of the approaching royageW so magnificent
! n prospect; the exact space it occupies, the
streets set as il were in a jewel of ripping
brooks which glisten bright as silver in the
sunlight, their breadth and regularity, the
rows of young verdant trees tha: border up
on them, the lively color of the houses, the
beautiful gardens and orchards with the
small fields thick covered with flowing wheat
give to it an aspect singularly attractive, es-
pecially when it is contristed with the bor-
. 4
city, so beautiful, so isolated from the rest o
the world, at present so full of interest tc
the world, with its pleasant orchards and
gardens, is the work of hut ten years, and
that too in a barren valley, without sponta.
neous vegetation higher than willow bush
There were about 1000 inhabitants in thi,
city before it was depopulated by order o
Brigham.
In coming into the city yesterday morn
ing, we were particularly struck by its quiet
ness There was none of the hum and stil
of business that characterize Gentle towns
The streets We're deserted the houses were
deserted, the city was deserted. Though
surrounded by houses we We're nevertheless.
in place of desert loneliness The quiet
ness of the grave prevailed where il seemed
that thronging thousands and rushing com
mcrce ought to pour their tides along. The
windows had been taken out of the major
part of the houses; the doors were locked
everything had been made ready for burn
ing rs the MormonS tell us, If peace had no
been achieved before the arrival of TN,
troops. SO much for the city in general.
BRIGHANs LION HOUSE AND HIS MANSION.
They are the first prominent specific oh
jcctS that attract the travellers eve on de
scendnC from the mountains; they are neal
the centre of the city, on the square adioin
ing the Temple, and with it occupy the hes
sites in the town. Brigham home, in tn,
most densely populated part of the city, &C
cupies square containing ten acres of land
The entire square is surrounded by stone
wall ten feet high, two feet wide at the top
and four or five feet broad at the bottom
At either side of all the gates, and shor
distance along the wall, columns are bull
up. They are rounded, and extend one foo
beyond the wall They are also built tw.
feet higher than the waN.
The wall is very substantial 1t is bull
| of cut and cobble stone, with mortar anc
sand. 1t must have been built at an i'm
mense expenditure of time and labor. q
Continuing east to the centre of the sam
block, we come to Brigham's Lion House.
Ii is two stories high, about twenty-five fec
in front, and one hundred feet deep; is bull
in the gothic style, with peaked gable, ant
! narrow pointed windows projecting iron
the steep roof The high stone wall il
/ front of it completely obstructed my viev
of tbo lo,xcr mart of IL Tho first Glory