New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-09-03
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY.
KILL
XXIIL'
SALT LAKE AND ITS ENYIRONS.
SALT LAKE CITY, July II, 1853.

rore remotely on all aides: bu. Antelope Ssan'Oary
and perhaps other isands in the Lake, being mainly
covered by bigt, rugged hills or mountains, are IN
plain sight from every part Of the Valley. The
best Of the,e Islands il possessed BY the Church
(Monnon) az herd ground or ranohe for lie nnrner
Gus cattle, and is probably the best tract for that
purpose in the whole Territory. That portion Of the
Ishe between If and the Valley is 20 shallow that
cattle may at most be safely driven over 70
the island while itis deep three and Tour
feet) that none viii stray back again, and 1t would
be difficult and dangerous 70 steal cattle hence ID
the night, when that business j. mainly carried On
So the Church has large and capital pasture,
and her cattle multiply aud wax fat at the leas.
possible expense The best canon for wood near
this city il likewise owned BY "the Chqrch'-son
owned can't pretend 70 ssy-but whoever draws
wood from if must deposit every third load in the
Churcb's cspscious lard. These are but specimens
Of the manag cement whereby, though the Saints are
generally poor-Oiten quite poor, 80 ths. SAINT
WHO has three wyeS can sometimes hsrdly Afford TO
Keep two beds-yet " the Church" has q comiorsa-
bic allowance Of treasures laid up On earth And
her LEAD il postes aad dsnitsres also, by curl
Gus coincidence, seem to be in thriving clrcum-
stances. II looks TO me az though neither they
nor the Church could afford ~ have the world
burned up for while yet
--Crossipg, just west Of the city, the Jordan
(Which drains the fresh waters Of Lake Utah into
Salt Lake, and il large sluggish creek We are at
once out Of the reach Of irrigation from the north
ern bius--the river interceptng all streams from
4 Il 81.
plain covered mainly with our old acqusintances,
Sagebush and Greasewood; though there are wet,
spriDgy tracts, especially toward the southern
mountains and near the Lake, which produce rank,
coarse grass Yet this seeming desert has natd-
rally better soil than the hard, pebbly gravel on
which the city stands and which irrigation has
converted into bOunteOus gardens and orchards j
rejoice 10 perceive that Dam over the Jordan is
in progress, whereby considerable section Of the
valley of that river (40 miles long by an average Of
20 broad) is 10 be irrigated. There serious OBJ
stacles TO the full success Of this enterprise in the
inequality Of the plain, which is gouged and cut
up by numerous (now dry water-courses; but, If
this project is well engineered, it will double the
productive capacity Of this valley, and earnestly
~
systematic CATION there arc far too many cattle
and sheep on this great common, az the gaunt look
Of most of the cattle abundantly testfes. Water
also is scarce and bad here; tried several Of the
springs which are found at the bases Of the south
ern mountains, and found them all brackisb, while
not d single stream flows from those mountains 10
the five or Six miles that skirted them, and
am told that they afford but one or two scanty rv-
ulets through the whole extent of this valley. In
the absence Of irrigation, nothing is grown or at
tempted but wild grass; of the haifdozen cabins
we have passed between the Jordan and Lake, not
one had even the semblance Of garden or Of any
cultivation whatever. A shrewd woman who had
lived seven years near the Lake assured me that it
would do no good TO attempt cultivation there;
too much slkai" was her reason learn that,
Oh the city side Of the Jordan when irrigation was
Grst introduced and cultivation attempted, the SOIL
whenever allowed ~ become dry, was covered, for
the frat year or two, with some whitish alkaline
substance or compound; but this was soon washed
out and washed off by the water, so that no alkali
now exhibits itself and this trac. produces hand
lonely Let the Jordan be so damned and its
water conducted into lateral canals that its whole
valley may be simply irrigated aud there are few
tracts Of like area that will produce more gener
ously, albeit majority Of lie acres now seem as
sterile and hopeless ss the great American Desert
That this Lake should be salt, ia no anomaly.
All large bodies Of water into which streams dis
charge themselves, while they have seyerally no
outlet are or should be islt IL one such is fresh
that il an anomaly indeed Lake Utah probably
receives as much saline matter as Salt Lake; but
che discharges it through the Jordan and remains
herself fresh; while Salt Lake, having no issue
save by evaporation is probably the sates. body Of
water on earth. The ocean is comparatively
fresh; even the Mediterranean at Leghorn is not
half 20 salt am told that three barrels Of this
water yield barrel Of salt; that seems rather
has Dot had it in bis eyes, his mouth, his nos
trlls can reslize. You can no more sink in it than
in clay bank, but very little of it in your lungs
wouli suffice TO strange you. You make your
way in from hot, rocky beach over a chaos of
volcanic basalt that is trying to the feet; but at
depth OF yard or more you have fine sand bot
tom, and here the bathing is delightful.
The water is Of light green color for ten or
twenty rods; then deeply, darby, beautifully
blue No FISH can live in il; no freq abides it;
few birds are ever seen dipping into it. The
rugged mountains in and about it--just such
scarped and scanned aud quilted prccpices as have
been describing ever since | reached Denver
have little Fir and Cottonwood or Quaking Asp
in their deeper ravines behind their taller cliffs,