Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-09-13
MORNING LEADER.
GREEbsY AMONGST THE MORMONs
Salt Lake and VRlley--Life in Utah--Po-
lygnmy --MoFmOns AT Homo.
slLr I.AEE ClrY, july ls, 1859.

SALT LAKE CRY, July 49, 1853.
A party of ne visited the Lake on Saturday.
Il is tot visible from this city. though il must
be from the mountains which rise directly north
Of il, and more remotely on all sides; but Ante
lope, Stansbury, and perhaps other islands Ia
the Lake, being mainly covered by high rug
ged hills OF mountains, are in PLAIN sight from
every part Of the valley. The best of these is
lands is possessed by "the Church" (Mormon)
as a herd ground or rancho for its numerous
cattle, and is probably the best tract Tor that
purpose in the whole of the Territory. That
portion OF the Lake between it aud the valley
is 30 shallow that cattle may at most seasons be
safely driven over to the island, while it is so
deep (between three and four fcet) that none
will stray back again, and it wOuli be diff tut
and dangerous 70 stsal cattle thence 10 the
night, when that business is mainly carried on.
81 the Church has large sni capital pasture,
and her cattle mu'tiply and wax fat at The least
possible expense. The best canon for wood
near the CITY is likewise owned by "the Church,
-how owned ! cannot pretend to say-but
whoever draws wood from It must deposit every
third load in the Church's capacious yard =
These are bot specimens of the management
whereby, though the Saints are generally poor
often quite poor, 60 that Saint who has
three wives can sometimes hardly afford ~ keep
two beds--yet "Ihe Church" has a comfortable
! allowance Of treasure laid up on earth, And
leading apostles and dignitaries also, by a curl
Gus coincidence, seem 10 be IN thriving circum.
stances. 1t looks to me as though ueltherthey
nor the Church could afford 10 have the world
burned up for while yet.
That this lake should be salt is no anomaly.
A large bodies OF water into which streams
discharge, while they have seyerally no outlet
are salt If one such is fresh, that is an ano-
msly indeed. Lake Utah probably receives as
much saline matter as Salt Lahe; but she dis
charges it through the JO dan aud remains her
self fresh; while Salt Lake, having no issue
save by evaporation, is probably the safest
| body OF water on ear b. The ocean is compar-
ativey fresh; even the Mediterranean at Leg
horn is not half 80 salt. / am told that three
barrels of this water yield barrel of salt that
seems rather strong, yet its intense saltness, no
one who has not had 1t in his eyes, his mouth,
his nostrils, can realize You can no more sink
in it than in clay bank, but a very little OF it
Iu your lungs would suffice TO stranglc you -
You make your way in from hot, rocky beach
over chaos Of volcanic basalt that is trying to
the feet; but at the depth of yard or more have
| fi1e sand bottom, and here he bathing is de.
lghtlul.
The water is of a light green color for ten OF
| twenty rOts; then 'deeply, darkly, beautifully
blue" No fish can live in il; no frog bides it;
few birds are ever seen dipping into IL. The
rugged mountains in and about it-iust such
scaIped and scanned End quilted precpices as
have been describing ever since | reached Den
YER, have a little fir and cottonwood or quaKing
asp in their deeper myines or behnd their tall
er cliffs, but look bare aud desolato to the casual
observer; and tLese cut the Lake into sections
aud hide most of it from view, Probably lets
than third of it is visible from any single point
But this suiiices